ENAIRE leads industrial research for the European Digital Sky with 12 projects awarded

ENAIRE has been selected to participate in 12 projects under the SESAR 2025 call and will lead two of them, reinforcing its position as a European benchmark in the industrial research category within the European Digital Sky programme. 

The results of the latest call, which includes a total of 42 projects, were announced by the European institutional public–private partnership SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking in February and form part of the SESAR research and innovation programme (Single European Sky ATM Research), which promotes the modernisation of European airspace, with a total investment of more than 350 million euros, co-financed by the European Union through Horizon Europe funds and contributions from the aeronautical industry. 

ENAIRE will receive 3.5 million euros to develop these 12 projects. This strengthens ENAIRE’s role as a key player in the modernisation and development of the European Digital Sky. ENAIRE’s participation in these projects will rely on collaboration with its main technological partners: 

• CRIDA, its R&D subsidiary, which is participating in 9 of the 12 projects 

• Ineco, involved in 2 of the initiatives selected 

The projects are scheduled to begin in June 2026. 

Projects led by ENAIRE 

Of the 12 projects awarded to ENAIRE, two led by the organisation stand out: RAXUS and SPARK. 

RAXUS (Risk-based Authorisation and eXecution in U-space airSpaces) is a strategic project aimed at accelerating the orderly integration of drones and U-space operations in Europe. ENAIRE will use its expertise to transform how flight authorisations and risk assessments are managed in the drone environment, both inside and outside U-space. 

The project will develop a digital system that: 

• Automates flight authorisations and operational workflows 

• Integrates risk assessments by area 

• Introduces metrics on social impact, noise and public acceptance 

• Replaces the “first come, first served” criterion with a model based on fairness 

• Facilitates safe, efficient and scalable operations in innovative air mobility 

The second project, SPARK (SESAR Performance Assessment, Reporting and Knowledgebase), will support SESAR Joint Undertaking in the comprehensive management of the performance of the European Digital Sky ecosystem, ensuring: 

• Consistency in evaluating the results of R&D projects 

• Full alignment with the European ATM Master Plan 

• An integrated view of the performance of the European air traffic management system 

ENAIRE’s participation in this call demonstrates its leadership and strong commitment to modernising the European air navigation model, promoting the digitisation of the air traffic management ecosystem, the safe and orderly integration of new forms of air mobility, and the continuous improvement of the efficiency, sustainability and resilience of the system.