EU-Wide Advantages & Opportunities for “Highly automated ATM for all airspace users” (HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA5-2)

1. Single Market Access

• Direct pathway to the EU’s 450 + million passengers, freight customers and 27 Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs).

• Exploits the Single European Sky (SES) framework—solutions validated once can be deployed in all Member States without re-certification.

• Opens a €140 bn/yr European ATM, drone and space-launch services market, accelerating commercial uptake of DAA, A-PNT and DFMC avionics.

2. Cross-Border Collaboration

• Grant rules actively encourage multi-national consortia; minimum 3 legal entities from 3 different EU/Associated countries, but typical SESAR projects gather 15-25 partners across 10-15 states.

• Access to Eurocontrol Innovation Hub, SESAR JU knowledge base, EASA and ESA expert groups for joint simulations, cross-border flight trials and spectrum tests.

• Facilitates civil-military co-development with Ministries of Defence in several Member States—crucial for dual-use DAA and C-PNT research.

3. EU Policy Alignment

• Green Deal / Fit-for-55: Optimised descent, CAT II/III DFMC approaches and reduced holding cut CO₂ and noise.

• Digital Decade & Digital Europe: Promotes AI-enabled sensing, secure Galileo OSNMA navigation and cyber-resilient ATM networks.

• EU Space Policy & Secure Connectivity: Leverages Galileo/EGNOS, supports Space Traffic Management (STM) and NewSpace launch corridors.

• Strategic Compass & EU Defence Industrial Strategy: Dual-use sensors and assured PNT reinforce European strategic autonomy.

4. Regulatory Harmonisation

• Works inside EASA’s rule-making tasks (RMT.0230, RMT.0905) for RPAS and A-PNT—one certification accepted EU-wide.

• Contributes to EUROCAE WG-105 (UAS), WG-103 (Navigation), WG-112 (ATM), ensuring results feed directly into EU and ICAO SARPs.

• Alignment with U-space Regulation (EU) 2021/664 enables seamless crewed-uncrewed integration across borders.

5. Innovation Ecosystem

• Easy access to >3 500 research organisations in the SESAR, Clean Aviation and ESA/NAVISP portfolios.

• Connection to European Digital Innovation Hubs, EIT Urban Mobility/UAS competence centres—facilitates SME uptake.

• Use of EU flight-test corridors (Spain, France, Italy, Baltic “BalticSeaDrones” corridor) accelerates TRL-6 validation in multi-FIR environments.

6. Funding Synergies

• Blending potential with:

– Connecting Europe Facility 2 (CEF2) for CNS infrastructure & GBAS/eDME deployment.

– EDF & PESCO for dual-use DAA/C-PNT demonstrators.

– ESA NAVISP & IRIS2 for advanced Galileo/EGNOS payload testing.

– National Recovery & Resilience Funds (RRF) for industrial scale-up.

• Horizon Europe lump-sum model simplifies cost reporting and dovetails with national co-funding schemes.

7. Scale and Impact

• Addresses 9.5 million km² of European airspace, 30 000 daily flights and > 7 million drones expected by 2030.

• Harmonised solutions become de-facto global benchmarks via EASA bilateral agreements (FAA, TCCA, ANAC) and ICAO blocks.

• Creates EU-wide interoperable C-PNT backbone increasing aviation resilience to GNSS outages.

8. Specific Opportunity Highlights

1. Non-cooperative DAA Sensors

• European sensor supply-chain leadership (photonics, LIDAR, 77 GHz radar).

• Synergy with EU Chips Act for on-board AI processors.

2. Space-Launch ATM

• Supports emerging EU spaceports (Kourou-2, Kiruna, Andøya, SaxaVord).

• Builds EU STM-ATM interface standards ahead of US/China.

3. IFR RPAS in Classes D–G

• First-mover advantage for EU operators in BVLOS cargo and emergency services.

• Integrates with EU Drone Strategy 2.0 corridors.

4. DFMC GNSS / OSNMA

• Drives rapid market adoption of secure Galileo receivers—mandates expected 2028+.

• Reduces EU dependence on GPS.

5. Aircraft-based A-PNT

• Positions Europe as global hub for resilient navigation tech (Mode-N, eDME, Quantum IMUs).

9. Strategic Recommendations for Applicants

• Build a balanced consortium:

– Industry primes (airframe, avionics, RPAS)

– ANSPs & airport operators in at least 3 Functional Airspace Blocks

– Academia/RTOs for AI, photonics, quantum sensing

– Space & defence actors for dual-use alignment.

• Plan cross-border live trials using SESAR “Very Large-Scale Demonstrations” assets and U-space sandbox regulatory frameworks.

• Integrate a clear standardisation work-package feeding EUROCAE/RTCA & ETSI deliverables.

• Reserve budget for exploitation: C-type Patents (unitary patent), open-spec APIs and a detailed market deployment roadmap leveraging CEF2 and InvestEU.

10. Risk Mitigation Through EU Framework

• Horizon Europe Model Grant Agreement offers freedom to operate & IP ownership to beneficiaries, reducing commercialisation risk.

• GDPR, NIS2 and EU Cyber-Resilience Act provide a predictable compliance baseline across all Member States.

• SESAR JU provides continuous technical review, lowering technical and certification risks.

Bottom Line: Conducting this R&I at EU level multiplies impact—common standards, seamless market access, larger talent pool and direct linkage to Galileo/EGNOS and SESAR deployment projects—creating a clear competitive edge over purely national efforts.