Telespazio, a joint venture between Leonardo (67%) and Thales (33%), hosted the final event of the S-EDGE (Satellite, Drones and 5G for Law Enforcement Applications) project at the Fucino Space Centre, co-financed by the European Space Agency (ESA) with the aim of developing support services for law enforcement agencies through the use of drones, 5G connectivity, satellite technologies and artificial intelligence.
The project, led by Telespazio in collaboration with the Turin Polytechnic, ADPM Drones, e-GEOS, TIM and SEIKEY, involved the design, development, verification and validation of an integrated platform for end-to-end of missions with drones, aimed at the acquisition and supply in real time of video images of the areas of interest for the police.
The platform allows you to carry out both periodic patrols in automatic mode and missions on-demand, plan missions for drones, identify the least risky routes, manage the execution of flights and view the position and video captured by the drone in real time, even in BVLOS mode, i.e. at a distance that does not allow the remote pilot to maintain visual contact with the drone.
The management end-to-end of the service and the satellite assets represent the key factors of this solution. Route planning is in fact carried out using high-resolution digital surface models (DSM); drones or their hangars are equipped with communication boxes that allow the use of satellite communication such as back-up in case of loss of 5G/LTE connection; navigation services enable precision positioning.
The final event of the S-EDGE project concluded with a flight demonstration between the antennas of the Abruzzo Space Center.
"This project demonstrates how the integration of advanced technologies such as drones, 5G connectivity and satellite technologies can be an added value for law enforcement agencies and civil protection, helping them to guarantee citizens' safety", said Paolo Minciacchi, head of Telespazio's Geo Information Business Line.
