SESAR

The SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking is an institutionalised European partnership between private and public sector partners set up to accelerate through research and innovation the delivery of the Digital European Sky. To do so, it is harnessing, developing and accelerating the take-up of the most cutting-edge technological solutions to manage conventional aircraft, drones, air taxis and vehicles flying at higher altitudes.

The SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking (SESAR 3 JU) is a European institutional public-private partnership set up to accelerate through research and innovation the delivery of this digital transformation, in other words, the Digital European Sky. To do so, it is harnessing, developing and accelerating the take-up of the most cutting-edge technological solutions to manage conventional aircraft, drones, air taxis and vehicles flying at higher altitudes. With the Digital European Sky comes the promise of making Europe’s airspace the most efficient and environmentally-friendly sky to fly in the world.

Building on the work of the first SESAR Joint Undertaking, the SESAR 3 JU has 10-year mandate (2021-2031), corresponding to the duration of the Horizon Europe programme (2021-2027), followed by 4 years to complete the work outlined in the Multiannual Work Programme.

SESAR 3 JU brings together the EU, Eurocontrol, and over 50 organisations from the entire aviation value chain—including airports, air navigation service providers, airlines, drone operators, manufacturers, and the scientific community 

Strategic Objectives

• Accelerate Modernisation: Reduce time-to-market for innovative ATM solutions, supporting a faster transition from research to deployment.

• Inclusivity: Integrate all types of air vehicles and users—civil, military, manned, and unmanned—into a single, harmonised European airspace.

• Resilience: Enable flexible, scalable, safe, and secure ATM that can withstand disruptions and adapt to fluctuations in air traffic.

• Sustainability: Minimise aviation’s environmental impact, contributing to EU climate neutrality goals by 2050.

• Digitalisation: Foster the virtualisation and automation of ATM through AI, machine learning, and advanced digital technologies.

About the Digital European Sky Industrial Research 02

Under the Digital European Sky Industrial Research 02 (DES-IR-02) new calls have been opened, aiming to accelerate the transformation of Europe’s air traffic management (ATM) system, making it more digital, efficient, sustainable, and resilient.

The Digital European Sky Industrial Research 02 is pivotal for achieving the EU’s Single European Sky policy and the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy. It builds on the progress of SESAR 2020, which delivered over 130 solutions for ATM modernisation, and aims to address the remaining challenges for a fully digital, sustainable, and resilient European airspace

There are currently 14 calls open under this initiative, with €230 million of funding for each one of them (more than €3 billion in budget).

Key Themes

• Digital Transformation: Focus on virtualisation, interoperability, and cloud-based service-oriented architectures to decouple human-machine interfaces and enable flexible, resilient ATM services.

• Automation and AI: Increased automation for both pilots and ATM systems, leveraging AI-enabled tools for traffic management, surveillance, runway optimisation, and dynamic configuration.

• Environmental Sustainability: Emphasis on reducing aviation’s environmental footprint, with SESAR solutions already delivering measurable reductions in CO₂ emissions per flight.

• Integration of New Entrants: Enabling seamless management of conventional aircraft, drones, air taxis, and high-altitude vehicles.

• Advanced Connectivity: Developing multilink, high-performance air-ground communications to support future ATM requirements.

• Smart Airports: Transforming airports into smart, multimodal nodes, improving passenger experience and operational efficiency.

Objectives

• Accelerate Innovation: Fast-track the development and deployment of cutting-edge technologies for ATM, supporting Europe’s ambition to have the most efficient and environmentally friendly airspace in the world.
• Support the European ATM Master Plan: Contribute to the execution of the new European ATM Master Plan, which sets the roadmap for ATM transformation across the continent.
• Public-Private Partnership: Leverage the strengths of a broad partnership involving the EU, Eurocontrol, over 50 organisations from the aviation value chain, and close collaboration with regulatory and standardisation bodies such as EASA and Eurocae.

Eligibility

Open to organisations across Europe involved in the aviation value chain, including airports, airspace users, air navigation service providers, drone operators, manufacturers, and the scientific community.