Swiss U-Space Powers Life-saving Drone Pilot Program in Switzerland

Created on 13.06.2018 11:48

Swiss U-Space Powers Life-saving Drone Pilot Program in Switzerland

Life-saving drones are taking off in Switzerland, thanks to a revolutionary pilot program announced yesterday by Swiss Post, the national postal service of Switzerland, and drone manufacturer Matternet in partnership with Insel Group, the largest and leading medical care system in Switzerland.

Beginning this summer, drone will transport time-sensitive medical laboratory samples and urgently-needed medication between Tiefenau Hospital and University Hospital Insel in the city of Berne. Today, those samples are transported via courier or taxi with significant delays due to ground traffic. Drones provide a safety, efficient, and reliable alternative, saving doctors and patients crucial time in addressing urgent healthcare needs. The pilot project hopes to expand to Zurich later this year.

This remarkable pilot program is also the first instance of routine BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Vision) operations supported by a nationwide integrated airspace system: Swiss U-space (Urban-Space).

In early March of this year, skyguide announced a partnership with AirMap to develop and deploy a national drone traffic management system for Switzerland. Swiss U-space, as it is known, will power Switzerland's thriving community of drone companies with UTM (Unmanned Traffic Management) services for advanced commercial drone operations like BVLOS.

Skyguide plays a pioneering role in the European development of U-Space and actively supports the integration of drones into Swiss airspace.
The pilot program provides a strong example of how UTM and U-Space can be utilized to benefit our cities and communities.

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