Article 1 Subject matter and scope

SCOPE — MILITARY AND STATE AIRCRAFT

(a)Although military and State aircraft operations are in principle excluded from the scope of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 and its implementing and delegated acts, the safety of such operations is paramount when conducted in airspace that is subject to EU aviation safety regulations. In this context, the safe separation between military and State aircraft also in the U-space airspace is always expected during all stages of flight.

(b)It is recalled that when defining UAS geographical zones in accordance with Article 15 of Regulation (EU) 2019/947, Member States should also consider other aspects than safety, such as security aspects. Indeed, a Member State could designate a U-space airspace in critical areas for security and/or defence reasons, including military and State aircraft operations.

(c)In this context, military and State aircraft authorities are partners in the decision-making process of the coordination mechanism (as per Article 18(f) of Regulation (EU) 2021/664) for the designation of U-space to cover the safety and security aspects in a U-space airspace, from the initial ‘airspace risk assessment’ until the U-space is implemented and monitored.

(d)The involvement of military authorities in relation to U-space is considered key to guaranteeing the level of safety and security in the U-space airspace from both a ground and an air risk perspective.

(e)For example, military and State aircraft that conduct short-notice off-airfield landings while carrying out their assigned operations may require portions of the U-space to be adjusted or possibly deactivated. In this case, air traffic control units should apply the dynamic reconfiguration of the U-space airspace at short notice, if/when required by military and State aircraft, as necessary, in accordance with the principles of Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2021/664.

SCOPE — SUPPORT TO PASSENGER OPERATIONS At this stage of the implementation, the U-space is not foreseen to support passenger operations, which are today carried out with manned VTOL-capable aircraft and which ultimately could be autonomously performed with e-VTOL UAS. Indeed, the U-space system is intended to ensure the segregation of manned aircraft subject to air traffic control or the remain-well-clear spacing of manned aircraft not subject to air traffic control, including manned VTOL-capable aircraft. UAS operations currently foreseen in urban environments are UAS carrying payload or goods, but not humans. Therefore, today, the U-space regulatory framework has been designed and relies on the overall assumption that drone-to-drone collisions will ultimately have limited consequences. The integration of UAS passenger-carrying operations will require the reassessment of the whole Uspace framework, with particular focus on:

(a)the acceptable level of safety (ALS) that will have to be strengthened in maintaining appropriate safety levels for manned aviation (i.e. to mitigate the risk of human casualties);

(b)complementary enablers/prerequisites that may be required to support the safety of such operations (e.g. additional mandatory U-space services and on-board functionalities).

APPLICABILITY

(a)The scope of Regulation (EU) 2021/664 is limited to unmanned aircraft, as well as to natural and legal persons involved in their operation; in the context of this Regulation: UAS operators, Uspace service providers (USSPs), and common information services (CIS).

(b)Therefore, the requirements on ATS providers or the requirements related to manned aircraft operations are not included in this Regulation. Instead, the provisions pertaining to ATS providers are included in a dedicated amendment to Regulation (EU) 2017/373 through Regulation (EU) 2021/665. The provisions related to manned aircraft are included in a dedicated amendment to Regulation (EU) No 923/2012 (the SERA Regulation) through Regulation (EU) 2021/666 on implementing acts as regards air operations as well as the use of airspace and the design of airspace structures respectively.

(c)Regulation (EU) 2021/664 does not apply to the following UAS operations for the following reasons:

(1)model aircraft operating in the framework of model aircraft clubs and associations that have received an authorisation in accordance with Article 16 of Regulation (EU) 2019/947 have demonstrated a good level of safety in clubs and associations, which allows to keep the seamless transition from the different national systems to the new Union regulatory framework provided for by Regulation (EU) 2019/947 is maintained;

(2)unmanned aircraft of a maximum take-off mass (MTOM) of less than 250 g when used in subcategory A1 of the ‘open’ category do not represent a significant safety risk in case of collision; this includes privately built unmanned aircraft of a MTOM of less than 250 g, as well as class C0 UAS as defined in Regulation (EU) 2019/945, including those that are toys in the meaning of Directive 2009/48/EC;

(3)UAS flying according to instrument flight rules (IFR) in accordance with the current standardised European rules of the air (SERA); they benefit from the provision of air traffic service (ATS), as summarised in Appendix 4 to Regulation (EU) No 923/2012; this does not exclude certified UAS from flying in U-space airspace with the support of U-space services; and

(d)Finally, it is recalled that Regulation (EU) 2021/665 does not apply to UAS that carry out military, customs, police, search and rescue, firefighting, border control and coastguard or similar activities and services undertaken in the public interest, by virtue of the scope defined in Article 2(3)(a) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139.

MAXIMUM CEILING OF U-SPACE AIRSPACE To ensure an additional strategic layer of mitigation as regards separation between manned and unmanned aircraft, Member States may consider limiting the U-space airspace to a 150 m (500 ft) height above the ground or water, in particular when the U-space airspace is designated in uncontrolled airspace. Considering the novelty of the U-space and the lack of experience with its implementation, this limitation is deemed desirable to ensure safety of operations in the U-space airspace across the EU. In this context, Member States may nevertheless decide to designate U-space airspace with a height greater than 150 m (500 ft) above the ground or water in controlled or uncontrolled airspace provided that there are additional services and means available to ensure a common reference altitude system between UAS and manned traffic, as well as additional U-space services and performance requirements for the services derived from the airspace risk assessment.