Case study

Who won Fast Track Innovation and Uptake U-space and Urban Air Mobility 2022? 72 companies funded

  • 5funded projects
  • €32.6MEU contribution
  • 72companies, 23 SMEs
  • 21countries

Grant topic: Fast Track Innovation and Uptake U-space and Urban Air Mobility

The European Commission funded 5 projects under the Horizon Europe topic HORIZON-SESAR-2022-DES-IR-01-WA4-1, with €32.6M in total EU contribution. 72 private companies from 21 countries took part, and 23 of them are SMEs. Below is who they are, what they are building, and how much each received.

At a glance

  • Funded projects: 5
  • Total EU contribution: €32.6M
  • Of which to companies: €24M (73%)
  • Companies / of which SMEs: 72 / 23
  • Average consortium size: 30.8 organisations
  • Projects coordinated by a company: 3 of 5
  • Top countries (company participations): Italy (19), Belgium (15), Spain (14), Germany (6)

Companies that received funding

Honeywell International s.r.o.

Praha, Czechia · project coordinator

Received €3.5M as a coordinator in OperA: Operate Anywhere (2023-04 to 2026-06).

Helicus Bvba

Antwerpen, Belgium · SME · project coordinator

Received €2.7M as a coordinator in SAFIR-Ready: Obtain flight mission readiness, enabling rapid intervention for healthcare and critical infrastructure, leveraging all value chain actors and U-Space services. (2023-06 to 2026-11).

INDRA Sistemas SA

Alcobendas Madrid, Spain · project coordinator · website

Received €1.9M as a coordinator in ENSURE: atm-uspacE iNterface and airSpace reconfigURation sErvice (2023-06 to 2026-07).

Collins Aerospace Ireland, Limited

Cork, Ireland · website

Received €911K as a participant in SPATIO: u-Space sePAraTIOn management (2023-09 to 2026-12).

Aeroporti di Roma SpA

Fiumicino, Italy

Received €777K as a participant in EUREKA: EUropean Key solutions for vertiports and UAM (2023-06 to 2026-05).

Leonardo - SpA

Roma, Italy · website

Received €730K as a participant in ENSURE: atm-uspacE iNterface and airSpace reconfigURation sErvice (2023-06 to 2026-07).

Frequentis AG

Wien, Austria

Received €690K as a participant in OperA: Operate Anywhere (2023-04 to 2026-06).

Hologarde

Paray Viellie Poste, France

Received €575K as a participant in EUREKA: EUropean Key solutions for vertiports and UAM (2023-06 to 2026-05).

Pipistrel Vertical Solutions d.o.o. Podjetje Za Napredne Letalske Resitve

Ajdovscina, Slovenia

Received €546K as a participant in OperA: Operate Anywhere (2023-04 to 2026-06).

Nsx

Niel, Belgium · SME

Received €490K as a participant in SAFIR-Ready: Obtain flight mission readiness, enabling rapid intervention for healthcare and critical infrastructure, leveraging all value chain actors and U-Space services. (2023-06 to 2026-11).

UNIFLY

Antwerpen, Belgium · SME

Received €439K as a participant in ENSURE: atm-uspacE iNterface and airSpace reconfigURation sErvice (2023-06 to 2026-07).

Sopra Steria Group

Annecy Le Vieux, France

Received €420K as a participant in SPATIO: u-Space sePAraTIOn management (2023-09 to 2026-12).

Also funded: Societa' Per Azioni Esercizi Aeroportuali SEA (IT), Tern Systems Ehf (IS), Safran Electronics & Defense (FR), Nextant Applications & Innovative Solution SRL (IT), Deep Blue SRL (IT), Unisphere GmbH (DE), Kpmg Advisory (BE), Aena S.m.e. SA (ES), Boeing Aerospace Spain (ES), Skycorp OÜ (EE), Droniq GmbH (DE), Flyvercity Ltd (IL), D-Flight SpA (IT), Akcine Bendrove Oro Navigacija (LT), Safesky (BE), ENAV SpA (IT), Hungarocontrol Magyar Legiforgalmiszolgalat Zartkoruen Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag (HU), Agentfly Technologies s.r.o. (CZ), Anra Technologies OÜ (EE), Valsts Akciju Sabiedriba Latvijas Gaisa Satiksme (LV), Aerocamaras SL (ES), Soul Software SRL (IT), Airbus Defence and Space SAS (FR), Sabena Aerospace Engineering (BE), Ingenieria y Economia del Transporte Sme Mp SA (ES), Eurousc Italia SRL (IT), Rockwell Collins France SAS (FR), Udaras Eitliochta Na Heireann the Irish Aviation Authority (IE), Skyzr GmbH (AT), Skyports Limited (UK), Frequentis Romania SRL (RO), Vertical Aerospace Group Ltd (UK), Frequentis Solutions & Services s.r.o. (SK), Rockwell Collins Uk Limited (UK), Techno Sky SRL Technologies for Air Traffic Management (IT), NATS (en Route) Public Limited Company (UK), Aviseq Critical Communication AB (SE), The Irish Air Navigation Service (IE), Skyguide, SA Suisse Pour Les Services de la Navigation Aerienne Civils et Militaires (CH), Aeroports de Paris SA (FR), and 20 more.

The funded projects

SPATIO: u-Space sePAraTIOn management

€7M EU contribution · 25 partners · 2023-09 to 2026-12 · coordinated by ENAIRE (ES)

SPATIO (u-Space sePAraTIOn management) will research the U-space services addressing separation between UAVs, in particular, strategic and tactical conflict resolution services and the relationship between separation and capacity in U-space airspaces. i.e., the relation with the Dynamic Capacity Management service.

Project page on CORDIS

EUREKA: EUropean Key solutions for vertiports and UAM

€6.9M EU contribution · 39 partners · 2023-06 to 2026-05 · coordinated by Eurocontrol - European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (BE)

The EUREKA project aims at enabling the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) accommodation (SESAR3 R&I need: Enabling UAM) in all types of airspace (R&I need: support the development of the U-space regulatory framework and required standards) with a focus on the vertiports operations.

Project page on CORDIS

SAFIR-Ready: Obtain flight mission readiness, enabling rapid intervention for healthcare and critical infrastructure, leveraging all value chain actors and U-Space services.

€6.5M EU contribution · 45 partners · 2023-06 to 2026-11 · coordinated by Helicus Bvba (BE)

SAFIR-Ready aims to develop new U-Space services relevant for U3 and U4, that, together with a central Command and Control Center (C2C) and the development of an automated ground integration (Drone Cargo Port - DCP) will allow for automated time critical drone based services for medical and non-medical use cases.

Project page on CORDIS

ENSURE: atm-uspacE iNterface and airSpace reconfigURation sErvice

€6.4M EU contribution · 30 partners · 2023-06 to 2026-07 · coordinated by INDRA Sistemas SA (ES)

This project aims to refine and complete the definition of the common ATM U-space interface by identifying new working areas with impact and providing a consolidated interface with a standardized data model, architecture and an operation method to achieve a minimum TRL7.

Project page on CORDIS

OperA: Operate Anywhere

€5.8M EU contribution · 15 partners · 2023-04 to 2026-06 · coordinated by Honeywell International s.r.o. (CZ)

This Fast Track project is a unique opportunity allowing the different stakeholders to approach, in an agile way, the development and joint validation of needed UAM technologies and operations in a real European environment.

Project page on CORDIS

What the winning consortia had in common

  • Consortia averaged 30.8 organisations, and companies held 93 of 154 seats (60%).
  • 30% of company seats went to SMEs, so smaller firms clearly had room in these consortia.
  • 3 of 5 projects were coordinated by a company; the rest were led by universities, research organisations or public bodies.

See the original call on Grantalist.


Source: CORDIS Horizon Europe open data, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Figures are the EU contribution recorded at grant signature; data as of 2026-08-28.

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