Current Status and Flight Demonstration of UTM in Korea

Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management System (UTM) provides VLOS (Visual Line of Sight) / BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) flight plan by providing location information of other drones, airspace/flight information, weather/obstacle information, etc. so that multiple drones can operate safely and efficiently. It is a traffic management system for drones that supports creation and flight authorization / permission. In addition, UTM provides traffic management services such as communication, flight route management, location monitoring, and collision avoidance so that drones completing various missions can fly farther safely and increase usability of airspace. This paper intends to share current status of UTM that is being researched and developed in Korea ("UTM System Development and Demonstration for Safe Operation of Small UAS System in Low-Altitude"). In addition, this paper will explain UTM based flight demonstrations carried out along with R&D from 2017 to 2021, and suggest the direction that UTM should take.