Issue 60 - University of Surrey's Student Union

Sci/Tech Editor: Alex Smith | Copy Editor: Sophie Vickery
The Stag | 29 th May 2013
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 15
Science & Technology
First ‘unmanned’ aircraft
takes it’s maiden voyage
Unmanned full-size aeroplane on the tarmac. The UAV to become commercialised into a passenger jet?
©BAE Systems
By Mike Colling, Science & Tech Team
BAE Systems Jetstream
A research aircraft has become
the first pilotless aircraft to fly
through UK shared airspace. The
500 mile flight from BAE Systems’
in Warton Aerodrome, Lancashire,
to Inverness in Scotland was
controlled by a ground-based pilot,
with navigational instructions
provided by the National Air
Traffic Services (NATS). Known as
the ‘Flying Testbed’, the aircraft
was controlled by onboard sensors
and complex robotics.
The flight was the latest in a
series of trials carried out as part
of the ASTRAEA (Autonomous
Systems Technology Related
Airborne Evaluation & Assessment)
programme and was not technically
unmanned; two safety pilots were
on board in case anything went
wrong, and were responsible for
the take-off and landing.
The ASTRAEA programme aims
to investigate the “technologies,
procedures and regulations”
necessary for autonomous aircraft
to operate safely in UK airspace.
Funded by commercial companies
(including BAE Systems) and the
UK government, its achievements
have helped place the UK in “a good
position globally on unmanned
aircrafts”.
The technology required for
unmanned flight is not new; for
many years militaries around the
world have used Unmanned Aerial
Vehicles (UAVs), or ‘drones’, for
both reconnaissance and armed
attacks. The latest ASTRAEA flight,
however, marks the first time such
an aircraft has been flown through
UK airspace shared with passengercarrying
airliners.
It is hoped that the programme
could pave the way for new search
and rescue operations, and perhaps
even unmanned passenger flights
in the future. Whether customers
will be willing to pay to fly on
a pilotless aircraft, however, is
another matter altogether.