2023-06-05 09:30:26
Whether amateur or professional, civilian drone pilots are subject to strict requirements and rules. Also, when it comes to flying a drone, the administrative and regulatory aspect is often a headache. Fortunately, specialized platforms now exist to help drone operators manage these constraints.
To find out more, we interviewed David Miret, founder of Clearance, one of those platforms whose use is becoming more and more essential to be sure of flying within the rules!
Clearance is a platform for preparing drone missions and securing airspace. It is intended for independent remote pilots as well as for companies and airports.
David Miret is the CTO[1] of this company that believes that flying a drone in a professional context should be simple and that it is simplicity that will bring efficiency and safety.
Engineering Techniques: Clearance is a drone platform. What does it consist of?
David Miret: At Clearance, our mission is to facilitate the insertion of drones into the airspace. We help drone operators obtain the authorizations allowing them to fly in the areas desired by their customers.
It should be noted that drone regulations are particularly complex and that it is difficult for an operator to know which rule to follow, who to contact and in which format to request authorization to fly.
Depending on the areas concerned, the organizations to contact are different. For example, in France, making a request to the prefecture is mandatory to fly a drone in a built-up area, while flying a drone near an airport requires authorization from the latter. Things get even more complicated when it comes to specific areas: natural areas, military areas, nuclear sites, etc.
For a drone operator, there are many risks of error, because it is still necessary to know that these zones exist. With the Clearance platform, operators only have to click, which saves them time. We take care of this administrative aspect for them, which saves them from having to go through aeronautical charts and look for the right contacts.
In the same way that Doctolib connects patients with their practitioners, we put drone operators in contact with organizations authorized to issue authorizations to fly. Like the other platforms, Clearance therefore has two interfaces, an “operator” interface and an interface dedicated to airspace managers, in particular airports.
To secure airspace, managers need to know if a drone is likely to fly near the areas under their responsibility. Clearance provides them with this information in digital format, which allows them to accept or refuse the authorization request.
Is France a special case or does a European regulatory framework exist?
Europe is creating a drone common market with harmonized rules[2]. On the other hand, this harmonization takes time and certain national rules will still remain in force for a few years. For example, European regulations allow continuing to fly according to national standard scenarios until January 1, 2026.
As is the case in other countries, constraints specific to France (for example the request for authorization from the prefecture) are also added to European regulations.
Finally, despite the many European flight scenarios proposed, there will always be special cases that will require an authorization request and knowledge of these specific areas.
Is digital drone air traffic management already a reality?
European legislation is moving in this direction. Indeed, January 26, 2023 entered into force on U-Space regulatory frameworkan acronym for a digital air traffic management system for unmanned aircraft (UAS).
In its fully developed version, U-Space will be fully automated and made up of equipment that all communicates with each other autonomously: drones, planes, airports, etc. Each drone takeoff will trigger a flight notification and planes will report their presence, forcing the drones to land.
Different levels of integration are provided for by regulation, depending on the level of automation. Again, if we have been hearing about U-Space for several years, it will take time before we see the first fully automated U-Space spaces appear. For the company that wants to develop such a system, there is already a whole technical part to put in place. Then, this company will have to follow a certification process authorizing it to manage this space.
[1] Regulations (EU) 2019/947 and (EU) 2019/945
[2] In French, the Technical Director
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