UKRI Future Flight: Enabling BVLOS Drone Operations for UK Infrastructure

This UKRI Future Flight Project, titled “Containment with Confidence,” is set to transform how critical energy infrastructure is monitored across the United Kingdom. This initiative creates a clear pathway to transition from carbon-intensive helicopter inspections to highly efficient, low-carbon, and scalable Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone operations. By replacing traditional aerial surveillance which contributes approximately 500 kg of CO2 per hour with a refined risk based monitoring system, the project supports the UK’s Net Zero goals while improving operational safety.

Led by Flarebright, the consortium brings together key industry players including National Gas, Satellite Applications Catapult, and RPAS Heroes. Together, they are addressing the primary challenge of enabling safe, routine BVLOS access over the UK’s extensive network of underground gas pipelines. 

Flarebright is leveraging its defence grade technology to guarantee safety and regulatory compliance:

• Containment with Confidence: The project will adapt Extera, a robust, scalable Flight Termination System (FTS) and MLScope, an advanced data and simulation platform, to rigorously ensure flight containment for safe BVLOS operations. Extera is an ultra-reliable hardware and software system that can command termination of a drone’s flight. 
  
  

• Regulatory Evidence: An advanced simulation and data platform will structure operational evidence to support the regulatory concepts needed for scaling civilian corridor-based BVLOS drone operations. The project will share data and outputs with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to accelerate regulatory maturity.