K-Drone System Demonstration Support Project Call... Total Support Scale 710 Million KRW

On November 11 last year, the two-seater drone taxi 'EH216' from Chinese company EHang was conducting an unmanned test flight at the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) demonstration flight event held by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport near the Mulbit Stage in Yeouido Hangang Park, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 25th that it will launch the 'K-Drone System Demonstration Support Project,' a core technology to enhance the utilization and safety of drones and support the commercialization of drone delivery and drone taxis.

The K-Drone System is a drone traffic management system that supports flight plan approval, location information monitoring, and collision avoidance with surrounding flying objects. Using the K-Drone System, which can be called the "traffic light for drones," it is possible to control multiple drones simultaneously, including beyond visual line of sight flights.

The government started the research and development (R&D) project for the K-Drone System in 2017 and publicly demonstrated a system capable of controlling multiple drones simultaneously through the Urban Air Mobility (K-UAM) demonstration event in November last year.

Companies selected for the K-Drone System Demonstration Support Project will receive funding to cover costs required for drone modification and testing to apply R&D technologies such as location identification devices and communication equipment early.

The support scale ranges from approximately 30 million to 300 million KRW depending on the project field, with a total support budget of 710 million KRW. The demonstration scope includes three areas: airport, urban, and long-distance and maritime delivery. More detailed information can be found from the 26th on the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Drone Information Portal and the Korea Aviation Safety Technology Institute's website announcement.

Na Jin-hang, Director of Future Drone Traffic at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "The K-Drone System is a means to dramatically expand the utilization range of drones from the existing visual line of sight to beyond visual line of sight," adding, "Through this demonstration project, we will support realizing various possibilities such as expanding flight areas, automated drone delivery, and long-distance delivery using hydrogen fuel."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.