The CEUS Project aims to build a large infrastructure to support the development of unmanned aerial platforms. It is located in Huelva, in an area very close to the facilities of the Arenosillo Experimentation Center (CEDEA), belonging to the National Institute of Aerospace Technique (INTA).
CEUS will have unique facilities: a track of 2 km in length, technical support facilities and an available aerial testing area of 1 million hectares.
The location of the project on this site has important advantages:
- Existence of a 1 million hectare no-fly zone that facilitates the testing of UAVs with sufficient margins.
- Favorable climatology most of the year.
- Presence of an aeronautical ecosystem in Andalusia that constitutes one of its potential customers.
- Existence of optronic and radar systems together with all the communication and data processing tools in the current INTA facilities, which are used to monitor the flight of UAVs and eventually organize their data collection.
- Long experience of INTA in the management of UAV tests and tests. The CEDEA has a fleet of systems that is operated and maintained by the technicians of the center, and is also a Center for the Development and Qualification of small and medium-sized aerial platforms for the main European manufacturers.
In this regard, its facilities will be especially useful for the operation of large UAV that can take advantage of the 2 km long runway and a flight area as described. They will also serve as a basis for INTA’s current and future aerial research platforms. It is also expected that many of the aerial platforms that require tests will have remote sensing sensors, so the center will be useful for the scientific community in the field of Earth Sciences: agriculture, geology, atmosphere, inland waters, marine environment, environment, etc.
Execution and results
Construction work on the facility is currently under way.