“Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily”, May 15 — Today, the Beijing Fengtai District Low Altitude Economy Industry Innovation Conference was held, and the Beijing Low Altitude Economy and Industry Development Alliance was announced.

The alliance was initiated by the Fengtai District Government and hired chief scientists, China Aerospace Aerodynamics Technology Research Institute, China Communications Signal Group Co., Ltd., Traffic Control Technology, CSIC Haifeng Aviation Technology Co., Ltd., and Beihang University as rotating vice-chairmen;

Traffic Control Technology, China Communications Technology, and Yuanfei Technology are the secretary-general units;

Twenty organizations, including Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing Jiaotong University, China First Armament Research Institute, Beijing Aerospace Sanfa Hi-Tech Co., Ltd., Honeycomb Aerospace, Heroflight, Xintian Zhixing, and Eddy Intelligent Link, were the first members.

The relevant person in charge of the Beijing Low Altitude Economy and Industry Development Alliance said that the alliance is guided by the in-depth development strategy of the national low-altitude economy and relevant industrial policies in Beijing, focusing on the three major industrial sectors of low-altitude air control, aircraft development, operation and service. It is market-oriented, enterprise-oriented, enterprise-oriented, adhering to the principles of innovation, development, win-win cooperation, and building a collaborative platform for government, industry, academia, research and use.

Combining the core technology accumulated by Fengtai District in the fields of rail transit, aerospace, etc., the alliance will lay out and build a municipal “Low Altitude Airspace Dispatch Command System and Safety Assurance Key Laboratory (Center)”, set up a number of independent research teams to carry out collaborative innovation in key industrial technologies, and strive to form 1 to 2 mature, stable, safe, reliable, and efficient low-altitude command and dispatch systems within 1 year.

It is worth mentioning that China Express and Traffic Control Technology previously focused their main business on the field of railway train operation, focusing on rail transit control systems and signal systems respectively. Currently, the two companies are promoting the establishment of a low-altitude control research center, and are focusing on developing a low-altitude control platform integrating multiple functions such as “Sky Gaode,” “Air Traffic Light,” and “Air Safety Control.”

Also today, Nanjing held a low-altitude economic development conference. At the conference, we learned that Nanjing recently released the “Nanjing Implementation Plan for Promoting High-Quality Development of the Low-Altitude Economy (2024-2026)”. In terms of infrastructure, in the next three years, Nanjing will gradually improve the city's low-altitude flight ground infrastructure and low-altitude digital intelligent networking, build more than 240 low-altitude aircraft take-off and landing sites (points) and supporting information infrastructure, build more than 3 test flight test sites and operator training sites, and plan to build 1 to 2 general airports and open more than 120 low-altitude routes.

▌Low-altitude layout, air traffic control first

The air traffic control system is the core of traffic management in traditional civil aviation, and in the low-altitude industry, it is also a key part of low-altitude infrastructure construction.

At this point in time, the low-altitude economy and industrial support is still immature. One major challenge stems from the lack of low-altitude air traffic management. In the future, with the development of the low-altitude economy, the number of manned and cargo drones in low-altitude airspace will also grow rapidly, and the frequency of flight activities will also increase, and the industry urgently needs the construction of an air traffic control system.

Source: CICC

Under the traditional civil aviation control model, manual operation accounts for a large proportion of the air traffic control system, and new low-altitude air control requires the introduction of a large number of advanced technologies. The May 10 report of GF Securities also pointed out that communication, navigation, surveillance, and air traffic management systems are the core of traffic management in traditional civil aviation. In a low-altitude context, unmanned, refined, and intelligent are important features of a new generation of air traffic control.

Currently, various local governments are discussing design ideas for low-altitude intelligent networking, integrating new technologies such as low-altitude airspace surveillance, mobile internet, satellite navigation, big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence with the low-altitude economy industry.

Implemented to specific aspects of the industrial chain, CICC's April 14 report indicates that the construction of low-altitude air traffic control for general aviation airports and take-off and landing platforms is one of the first beneficiaries. Under a neutral assumption, China is expected to invest more than 30 billion yuan in low-altitude air control construction of general aviation airports and take-off and landing platforms in 2024-2030. In addition, the construction of 5G-A and the construction of air traffic control facilities around routes are expected to open up more room for growth in the low-altitude air traffic control industry.

Among A-shares, manufacturers related to air traffic control systems include: