Sky's the limit: Aerospace careers

Among the great challenges facing engineers today is that posed by the desire to open up civilian airspace to unmanned aerial systems (UAS). As great challenges go, it doesn’t have the ring or glamour of fusion power or hypersonic flight. This is partly because the technology already exists: UAS are flown extensively by the military in the ‘organised airspace’ of theatres of war. The challenge, however, is to convince the world’s aviation regulators that the technology can be packaged in a way to make it safe for a pilot to ‘fly’ one, maybe two, maybe many aircraft at once, in the same skies as those used by passenger jets, all from a control station on the ground, and even from a different continent.

 It is almost inconceivable to think that any regulator would allow a UAS, flown out of the line of sight of its pilot, to come anywhere remotely near an airliner full of people. But if it were proved that the command and control links were reliable, many believe one of the most exciting new markets for aircraft systems worth many billions of pounds could be opened up. That is the goal that British aerospace engineers are now working towards. And if they achieve it, this emerging sector could open up a range of exciting new opportunities for aerospace engineers.