Seven consortiums have taken the first step toward verifying the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's K-UAM.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that on Wednesday, the 22nd at 10:00 AM, it will sign an agreement with participating companies in the first phase of the Korean Urban Air Mobility Demonstration Project (K-UAM Grand Challenge) at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Seoul. The signing ceremony was attended by Vice Minister Eom Myeong-so of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (host organization), the president of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (host organization), representatives of the leading companies in each field (operation, traffic management, and vertiport) of the seven consortia participating in the integrated operation demonstration, and representatives of the leading companies of the five consortia participating in the single-field demonstration.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's demonstration project will be conducted in Phase 1 from August 2023 to December 2024 in Goheung, Jeollanam-do, and in Phase 2 from July 2024 to June 2025 in the metropolitan area.

K-UAM participating organizations include: Korean Air (operations), Incheon International Airport Corporation (traffic management, Vertiport); UAM Association (operations), Dabo E&C (traffic management), Drone System (Vertiport); Hyundai Motor Company (operations), KT (traffic management), Hyundai Engineering & Construction (Vertiport); SKT (operations), Hanwha Systems (traffic management), Korea Airports Corporation (Vertiport); Kakao Mobility (operations), LG U+ (traffic management), GS E&C (Vertiport); Mint Air (operations), Lotte Data Communication (traffic management), Lotte Rental (Vertiport); Jeju Air (operations), Daewoo E&C (traffic management, Vertiport); and single-field organizations include Plana, Boltline (operations), Kencoa, FineVT, and Rovigos (traffic management).

Through this agreement, the specific verification period and aircraft to be used for verification have been confirmed for each consortium and company participating in the Grand Challenge, and the roles and obligations of the participating companies have been stipulated.

The Grand Challenge is being promoted for the first time in the world to build a traffic management system utilizing commercial communication networks such as 5G, build an integrated operation system that assumes commercialization, and utilize a virtual integrated operation simulator, so interest is also high in foreign countries such as NASA.

In particular, excellent foreign companies providing aircraft, such as SKT, S4 (Joby aviation), and VX4 (Vertical aerospace), are expected to participate in the Grand Challenge, and the competition to produce UAM aircraft is expected to be fierce.

Eom Myeong-so, Second Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, “The government will provide the world’s best verification environment where private companies can fully utilize their capabilities and comprehensively experiment with various technologies, while also sparing no effort in providing multifaceted support, such as swiftly enacting the UAM Act with bold regulatory exceptions, promoting R&D for the development of next-generation core technologies, and strengthening international cooperation to establish global standards.”

■ The three mobile carriers are actively promoting the UAM consortium
SKT joins hands with domestic and foreign companies. It verifies safety with an actual UAM aircraft from UAM company Joby Aviation. We will also test communication quality at an altitude of 300-600m, the UAM operation altitude, by utilizing the 4G/5G-based UAM specialized airspace network that was first built in Korea last year.

Meanwhile, at MWC23 to be held in Barcelona, Spain on the 27th, a virtual experience of UAM services from reservation to boarding will be provided, and technologies such as the UAM operation management system and UAM-specific airspace communication network will be comprehensively introduced.

LG Uplus will jointly operate the largest exhibition hall among participating companies at the '2023 Drone Show Korea' held at BEXCO in Busan with a consortium company.

The exhibition will provide customers with LG U+'s UAM traffic management platform, as well as traffic management platforms that provide UAM flight information sharing, traffic flow management, flight plan approval, and route deviation monitoring services, in the form of augmented reality (AR) content.

LG Uplus announced in February that it was preparing for early commercialization of UAM by collaborating with UAM airframe startup 'Plana' for joint research and development of communication-based UAM data transmission technology.

Last year, KT completed construction of the first domestic UAM-only 5G aviation network and completed performance verification. The aviation network provides 5G services at 300 to 600 meters using 3D coverage optimal design technology and network slicing technology developed by KT. KT decided to provide the aviation network it built to not only the K-UAM consortium but also small and medium-sized aircraft manufacturers and operators related to UAM.

In addition, the company announced that it will significantly increase the security and reliability of communication services essential for UAM operation by applying satellite communication and quantum cryptography communication technologies to the dedicated UAM air network this year.