From SORA to U-Space: How Murzilli Consulting Enables and Empowers Its Partners Across the Aviation Domain

From SORA to U-Space: How Murzilli Consulting Enables and Empowers Its Partners Across the Aviation Domain

The commercial drone market is expanding rapidly, with forecasts projecting it will reach USD 57.8 billion by 2030, driven by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.9%. This growth highlights both the opportunity and the complexity: As the market matures, so do regulatory expectations, safety standards and technological demands.

From beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) approvals and Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA) authorisations to U-space implementation and CE marking for drones, the requirements faced by organisations involve a complex and wide range of regulatory, technical and operational challenges.

In such a fast-moving landscape, even experienced teams can lose valuable time (and consequently revenue) while navigating regulations or interpreting technical standards. Every hour spent deciphering compliance requirements is time taken away from business growth and focusing on the core business.

This article explores how outsourcing to trusted drone consultants reduces risk, why a 360° consultancy ensures both compliance and competitiveness and how Murzilli Consulting’s in-house expertise from former regulators, manufacturers and aviation specialists enables clients to succeed faster and with greater confidence.

How Can You Overcome Risk and Complexity in Drone Operations?

Attempting to build internal expertise across global regulatory and technical field is rarely efficient. Regulations such as the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)’s drone rules, Remote ID requirements, or frameworks for advanced air mobility (AAM) and urban air mobility (UAM) demand not only technical knowledge but also an insider’s perspective of how authorities interpret and apply these rules.

At Murzilli Consulting, our team includes former regulators and technical leaders from drone manufacturers, giving clients both insider perspective and operational insight.

In addition, many certification problems in emerging aviation can actually be process problems disguised as technical ones. This can be anything from missing relevant Means of Compliance (MoC) in support of a Design Verification Report (DVR) application, a containment strategy that looks fine on paper but is unable to be implemented in reality, or a U-Space Service Provider (USSP) that struggles to align with relevant Acceptable Means of Compliance (AMC) and Guidance Material (GM), to name a few.

By outsourcing these processes to a consultancy with deep regulatory and technical roots, uncertainty disappears. At Murzilli Consulting, our clients hand us the complexity, and we deliver clarity. This model means clients don’t need to hire, train and later downsize regulatory teams based on project cycles.

Rather, issues are identified early, resolved efficiently and documented correctly for authorities. Our experts, with all disciplines in-house, provide continuity, scalability and cost efficiency across every stage of development.

We don’t just create strategies for our partners; we implement them and drive them to success.

Why Does a Team of Expert Drone Consultants with First-Hand Regulatory, Technological and Industry Experience Matter?

Clients select people before they select processes; and at Murzilli Consulting, our people are what set us apart.

Our team is made up of former aviation, military, regulatory and manufacturing professionals with extensive experience in both public and private sectors. These include former decision-makers from the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) and Agencia Estatal de Seguridad Aérea (AESA) (Spanish CAA), as well as aerospace engineers and technology leaders who have built, tested and certified the systems that define modern drone operations.

More specifically, our directors, having sat on both sides of the table and shaped today’s drone regulations, bring the depth that turns requirements into approvals.

Murzilli Consulting's Management Team is made up of:

• Lorenzo Murzilli, Co-founder and CEO, who co-developed the SORA methodology at the Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems (JARUS) WG-6 and led Switzerland’s pioneering U-space and Remote ID initiatives as former Swiss FOCA leader.
• Eszter Kovács, Co-founder and Director of Stakeholder Engagement, also Co-founder and CEO of DroneTalks Group, who combines her technical expertise with her role as a strong advocate for women in male-dominated industries and the advancement of technology; leading industry relationships through DroneTalks and Aerial Cities.
• Richard Boden, Acting COO, who brings over 10 years of experience in aviation and transportation, having worked at F/LIST and Bombardier and led the certification team of Wingcopter.
• Juan José (Juanjo) Sola, Director of Regulatory Affairs and Commercial Space, who previously headed the UAS Division of the AESA (Spanish CAA) and contributed to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and EASA regulatory frameworks.
• Pawel Trominski, Director of Technology, who is a recognised authority in U-space certification, Remote ID, AI, UTM and software assurance for aviation; leading technology strategy and standards alignment.

Together, our directors lead groups of former regulators, safety engineers and airspace specialists who have delivered for both public and private sectors. By outsourcing to Murzilli Consulting, organisations gain the collective knowledge of multiple specialists without the need for hiring cycles. We’ve already built the expertise; our clients simply access it.

We don’t guess what good looks like for SORA or U-space. We helped define it, and we support companies meet and exceed it every day.

Why Is International Experience the Key to Advanced Aviation Consultancy Success?

Headquartered in Switzerland with subsidiaries in Germany, Hungary, the United Kingdom and Spain, Murzilli Consulting supports clients worldwide; from the United States and Middle East to Asia and Europe.

We operate as a distributed, multilingual team; made up of 31 members and a combined fluency in 16 languages, allowing us to support projects worldwide.

Whether guiding an authority in Asia through its first U-space deployment, advising a start-up in the Americas on drone autonomy pathways, or assisting European manufacturers with type certification, our expertise is truly global.

In the United Kingdom, our Acting COO Richard Boden is leading the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s Remote ID Strategy project in collaboration with Baringa. Through this initiative, Team Murzilli supports the UK CAA in the development a strategy for any future UK Remote ID requirement for drone and remotely piloted services, assisting the institution in finding a successful approach that serves all stakeholders involved, from users and citizens to law enforcement forces.

Over in Spain, we are actively involved in the Canarias Stratoport for HAPS & UAS project, alongside our sister company DroneTalks and our partner Parque Tecnológico de Fuerteventura. The aim of this pioneering infrastructure, designed as the centrepiece of the Canarias Geo Innovation Programme 2030, is to explore the possibility of using unmanned aircraft systems to assist in emergency services, monitoring forest fires, transporting urgent medical supplies and expanding mobile and internet coverage in rural and isolated communities in Fuerteventura. In parallel, our team is measuring the level of social acceptance that the incorporation of these silent electrically powered drones would have amongst the island’s residents.

In Germany, we are also key collaborators for U-Space Berlin, an innovative real-world testbed for sustainable drone deliveries in an urban setting. Funded by the Berlin Senate, this project is dedicated to advancing multimodal logistic solutions in the city, introducing drone delivery of goods such as medical supplies and essential items. We provide our consultancy services in helping accurately evaluate the technological, social, environmental and economic impact of these deliveries and promote the seamless integration of UAS into Berlin’s broader mobility systems.

This international footprint means we understand cultural and regulatory nuances, helping clients navigate not only technical standards but also stakeholder engagement in diverse markets.