GM1 Article 5 Common information services

U-SPACE ARCHITECTURE

(a)     Article 5 of Regulation (EU) 2021/664 defines the content and organises the distribution of ‘common information’ — that is, the necessary information that needs to be shared between the relevant operational stakeholders for the safe operation of UAS in the U-space airspace.

(b)     Common information is a collection of data that originates mainly from three different sources:

(1)     the Members States responsible for the design of the U-space airspace, including its dimensions, performance requirements, and static or dynamic restrictions;

(2)     the ATS providers responsible for the transmission of manned traffic information as laid down in point ATS.OR.127 of Regulation (EU) 2017/373 amended by Regulation (EU) 2021/665, and the ATS units when applying the dynamic reconfiguration of the U-space airspace;

(3)     the USSPs, through the terms and conditions as regards access to their services.

(c)      Member States may decide to designate a dedicated entity to provide CIS on an exclusive basis in a given U-space airspace. Such ‘single common information service provider’ (single CIS provider) would make the relevant information available to all relevant operational stakeholders. The single CIS provider would need to be certified for the services it provides. The designation of a single CIS provider would need to be notified to other Member States as well as to the Agency.

(d)     In the absence of a single CIS provider, common information is directly exchanged between the relevant operational stakeholders in a distributed communication architecture, whereby each data provider communicates directly with another USSP for sharing information. Each USSP needs to communicate with other data providers. A clear allocation of common information elements between Member States, ATS providers and USSPs would allow data users to find target data quickly and efficiently. In the absence of a single CIS provider, there is no need for additional certification; the provision of common information elements by ATS providers and USSPs will be covered by their respective certificate and the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2021/664 and Regulation (EU) 2021/665 amending Regulation (EU) 2017/373.

(e)     Members States may decide to designate different single CIS providers for different U-space airspace volumes, or designate a single CIS provider for some of their designated U-space airspace volumes only, otherwise opting for a distributed model of exchange of common information.

(f)      To achieve a high level of data exchange and interoperability between the CIS and State services (law enforcement and potentially military authorities), the CIS may need to comply with the national security and defence requirements.