On 14 December 2021, the Commission officially launched the SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking (“SESAR 3 JU”), an European institutional public-private partnership set up to accelerate the delivery of the Single European Sky through research and innovation.

The SESAR project was originally launched in 2004 in order to define, develop and deploy what is needed to increase the air traffic management (“ATM”) performance and build Europe’s intelligent air transport system, and is composed of 3 phases: a definition one (2004-2008) led by Eurocontrol and meant to define the content, the development and deployment plans of the next generation of ATM systems, a development one (2008-2013) managed by the SESAR 1 Programme to produce the required new generation of technological systems and components as defined in the previous phase, and a deployment one (2014-2020) managed by the SESAR 2020 Programme for a large-scale production and implementation of the new air traffic management infrastructure.

Building on the achievements of its predecessor, and drawing upon a wide pool of multidisciplinary expertise throughout the Union, Eurocontrol and more than 50 organisations covering the entire aviation value chain, the SESAR 3 JU will develop and deliver innovative solutions across several flagship areas of research and innovation, thereby speeding up the transition towards a climate neutral aviation and bringing environmental benefits in the short-medium term.

The SESAR 3 JU will have a 10-year mandate (2021-2031) and will be co-funded by the European Union through the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme.

Marco Stillo