In 2018, the Government of the United Kingdom’s Higher Education and Research Act 2017 established UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to push the boundaries of science and technology development throughout the UK. One of UKRI’s biggest projects is the £300 million Future Flight Challenge. This challenge was initiated in 2019 and is set to run through 2024, aiming to bring together drone industry experts to establish the UK’s dominance in drone applications. One of the participants in the Future Flight Challenge is Open Skies Cornwall, a program aimed at developing a drone skyway.

Located at the westernmost point of England’s South West Peninsula lies the county of Cornwall. The 1,375 square mile rural county’s largest settlement is the port town of Falmouth. The population of roughly 568,000 residents relies mostly on tourism and fishing for income. Cornwall is a fairly isolated region, which has made it the perfect testing ground for what the United Kingdom hopes to be the world’s largest drone highway.

Spearheading the project is Worcestershire-based company DronePrep. Founded in 2019, DronePrep is essentially a drone preparation platform that provides drone operators and landowners with the necessary information and software systems to enable low altitude drone operations. Along with Falmouth Harbour, Royal Mail, NHS Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board, Cornwall Council, Neurin Innovations, JHUBMED, Skyports Drone Services, and the University of Southampton, DronePrep has been establishing how drone delivery programs can safely operate throughout the county of Cornwall.

The £3 million UKRI-backed program closely involves local businesses and landowners with drone operators to establish a network of drone delivery routes. The start of the trial would see drones delivering items like medical supplies to remote communities in Cornwall as well as to ships anchored offshore. Deliveries will then extend to mail in the Isle of Scilly and chemotherapy supplies to the Isle of Wight.

The first stage of the Open Skies Cornwall project began in January 2023 with a ceremonial kickoff event at the UK’s first drone-friendly harbor port, Falmouth Harbour Maritime Drone Testbed Airspace Environment. The event showcased the Drone Delivery Register, a tool developed by DronePrep to include landowners and drone operators in safe drone delivery practices. “The first demonstration flight within the Falmouth Harbour Testbed is the first of many pioneering flights in our unique airspace environments,” said DronePrep CEO Gareth Whatmore. “Over the next two years, we will be using the intelligence gathered from the community via the Drone Delivery Register to plan for meaningful drone deliveries to support maritime, essential healthcare logistics, and parcel delivery.”

The Open Skies Cornwall program was slated to run through April 2024, with a 6-month extension option. Ultimately, Cornwall’s drone skyway program will provide the framework needed for expansion throughout more populous regions of the UK. UKRI is planning to see the UK develop a 165-mile drone super skyway. This leg of the project will be led by the Reading-based Altitude Angel. Founded in 2014 by Richard Parker, with the goal to “integrate drones into the airspace, safely, using cloud technology”, Altitude Angel will be working with UKRI and BT Group to see the drone skyway come to fruition.

With more than £12 million in funding from UKRI and BT Group, the drone super skyway will eventually connect the communities of Reading, Oxford, Milton Keynes, Cambridge, Coventry, and Rugby. “This drone capability has existed for quite some time but is in its infancy in terms of being actually part of our society and being a usable application,” said BT Group director of drones Dave Pankhurst. “So for us, this is about taking a significant step towards that point. It’s going to open up so many opportunities.”

The UK’s ambitious drone super highway initiative, spearheaded by projects like Open Skies Cornwall, represents a pivotal step towards integrating drone technology into everyday infrastructure. With significant investments and collaborative efforts, these projects not only aim to revolutionize logistics and healthcare delivery in remote regions like Cornwall but also pave the way for broader applications across more densely populated areas of the UK. As these initiatives continue to evolve, they promise to unlock new possibilities and efficiencies, marking a significant milestone in the integration of drones into our modern society.

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