ANRA Technologies (ANRA) in partnership with the Tartu Science Park Foundation (TSP) were awarded a contract from the Estonian Transport Administration with funding from the Estonian Business and Innovation Agency for a project to develop a sandbox concept for U-space systems located in Tartu. ANRA is the prime contractor for developing and integrating U-space and Common Information services for their project named CACTUS (Competent Authority Coordinating Testing in U-space Sandbox). ANRA will provide all the necessary foundational infrastructure to enable the interaction of the various U-space services and exchange data with stakeholders in the ecosystem.

The establishment of a sandbox will open up opportunities for the wide-scale development and deployment of unmanned aviation technologies. This will prepare the way for innovative aviation concepts and safety standards and facilitate the safe testing of automated aviation systems. The long-term aim is to create an innovation environment for uncrewed aviation that bridges all key stakeholders, including airspace users, industrial companies and research institutions. This approach is an opportunity to create a sustainable development environment for current and future technologies related to the introduction of unmanned aircraft systems and related solutions.

The results of the research undertaken by ANRA Technologies should be finalised by the end of September and will serve as the basis for the establishment of a sandbox in Tartu, where future U-space service providers and parties developing unmanned aviation technologies will be able to test and validate their services and solutions.

Tartu Science Park, the Estonian Aviation Academy and Lennuliiklusteeninduse AS (Estonia Air Navigation Service) are the parties involved in the work.