EUSOME: Excellence Hub for Advanced Air Mobility

Jan 15, 2025

EUSOME Kick-off Meeting, January 2025, University of Cyprus

Project Overview

EUSOME (Enabling Autonomous Aerial Systems through Operational Methods and Technological Enhancements) is a 4-year European Excellence Hub project funded by the Horizon Europe programme (Grant Agreement No. 101187121).

With a total budget of nearly €6 million, the project aims to modernize the air mobility ecosystem in the Southeast Mediterranean region. It addresses regional challenges such as goods and people transportation, complex landscape surveillance, fire risk management, and traffic congestion monitoring through the integration of large drone systems and intelligent coordination technology.

Core Pillars of Innovation

The project is structured around four primary objectives:

Research & Innovation Infrastructure: Establishing an open-access infrastructure to foster technological advancements in Autonomous Aerial Systems (AAS).
Regulatory Masterplan: Developing a strategic plan for the regional adoption of EASA regulations on Advanced Air Mobility.
Thematic Innovation Hub (TIH): A dedicated hub to explore market possibilities, consultancy services, and open-access policies for project outputs.
Mentoring & Outreach: Building regional expertise through training programs and promoting public engagement to ensure societal acceptance of AAM technology.

My Role

As Principal Investigator for ISI / ATHENA Research Center, I lead the institute’s participation in EUSOME, covering:

6G-integrated U-Space communications — designing ISAC waveforms for UAV swarm coordination and command-and-control links.
UAV path planning under channel uncertainty — developing MPC frameworks that optimize trajectory and MIMO ergodic rates jointly.
Detect-and-Avoid for BVLOS operations — radar-camera fusion for obstacle detection in autonomous UAS.

The Consortium

Coordinated by the KIOS Research and Innovation Center of Excellence at the University of Cyprus, EUSOME unites 15 partners across Cyprus, Greece, Poland, and Serbia:

Partner	Country	Role
KIOS / University of Cyprus	Cyprus	Coordinator
ATHENA Research Center (ISI)	Greece	Research — PI: E. Vlachos
Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority	Greece	Regulation
Aviomania Aircraft	Greece	Industry
Hellenic Drones S.A.	Greece	Industry
Adrestia R&D	Greece	Research
Ministry of Digital Governance	Greece	Policy
Hellenic U-space Institute	Greece	Standards
GRNET	Greece	Infrastructure
Cyprus Ministry of Transport	Cyprus	Policy
Cyprus Chamber of Commerce	Cyprus	Industry
Mediterranean Adventure Ltd	Cyprus	Operations
SocialTech Lab	Serbia	Outreach
Institute Mihajlo Pupin	Serbia	Research
Centrum Badań Kosmicznych PAN	Poland	Research

Project News & Milestones

March 2026 — 2nd EUSOME Study Visit (Belgrade): Consortium partners gathered at the Institute Mihajlo Pupin for knowledge exchange on U-Space technologies and cross-border coordination.
February 2026 — eVTOL Design Update: Aviomania Aircraft unveiled design targets for the EUSOME eVTOL platform: under 100 kg empty weight with a modular, mission-adaptable interior.
February 2026 — Science Café on AAM: First public outreach event at the University of Cyprus engaging citizens on Advanced Air Mobility.
January 2026 — HCAA UAS Flight Plan Update: The Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority published updated UAS flight plan regulations, advancing the national U-Space framework.
October 2025 — Skysense 2025 Workshop: EUSOME partners participated in the Skysense workshop, organized by the Cyprus Department of Civil Aviation.
October 2025 — 2nd Transnational Plenary Meeting: Consortium-wide review of progress and planning for the next phase.
October 2025 — Newsletter Launch: First edition of the EUSOME Newsletter published.
September 2025 — Geo-Zone Mapping (Cyprus): Partners working on drone corridor routes and geo-zone infrastructure for national U-Space deployment.
July 2025 — EUSOME at Oshkosh EAA AirVenture: Aviomania Aircraft showcased the EUSOME eVTOL concept at the world’s largest airshow.
July 2025 — UCY Summer Academies: Outreach to the next generation through drone demonstrations and AAM talks at the University of Cyprus.
June 2025 — WSIS+20 High-Level Event: SocialTech Lab represented EUSOME at the World Summit on the Information Society.
June 2025 — EUSOME at DEFEA 2025: Project featured at the Defence Exhibition Athens, demonstrating dual-use potential of AAM technologies.
May 2025 — Mentoring Programme Launch: The EUSOME mentoring and training programme officially kicked off in Belgrade.
January 2025: Official Project Kick-off Meeting in Cyprus.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101187121.