A drone testing zone is being created at Skolkovo

Skolkovo Foundation: Drone testing zone

The Moscow Innovation Cluster announced the creation, with the participation of the Moscow government and the Skolkovo Foundation, of a testing zone for unmanned aerial systems (UAS), where Moscow developers will be able to test their solutions and scale their business in the aviation technology priority area for the capital, the Moscow Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovative Development reports on Wednesday.

The unmanned aerial zone will be deployed on 400 hectares of the Skolkovo innovation center. It will be closed for flights of other aircraft. In the zone, flight altitude restrictions (100 meters) will apply.

As stated in the message, applications for testing drones are already open. Companies-developers and manufacturers of UAS and related infrastructure and services, aviation training and certification centers, customers of services using unmanned aircraft technologies are invited to participate in the project. You can apply to participate here.

Project participants will have the opportunity to test their UAS in an urban environment.

Currently, Moscow has imposed restrictions on drone flights. There is no regulatory framework for the use of drones weighing over 30 kg (throughout the Russian Federation).

At the same time, about 85% of the volume of the unmanned systems market falls on Moscow. More than 50 manufacturing companies and operators of these technologies are located in the capital, the report says.

In September 2022, it is planned to start flights under the experimental legal regime. Both light drones, with a take-off weight of up to several kilograms, and heavier ones, including those weighing over 30 kilograms, will fly.