Drone Test and Development Centre opens in Westcott

The Satellite Applications Catapult has agreed a lease with the site’s owners to run the newly developed drone test facilities.

The goal is to enable drone operators and companies to refine products and services at the site, including capabilities that will support BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line Of Sight), which relies on space data and technology. The UK Catapult highlights this is fundamental to integrating drone aircraft safely into the UK’s national airspace.

The DTDC will include three large workshops to enable companies to design, build and test advanced remotely piloted and autonomous aircraft or drones. Also involved will be the Royal Air Force runway – the project will bring it back into use as a 270-metre drone test runway for horizontal take-off, as well as four dedicated landing pads for vertical, or vertical to horizontal, take-off.

“The UK is fairly limited on what we call a ‘segregated facility’,” said Kieran Arnold, Chief Architect of Future Networks and Systems at Satellite Applications Catapult.

“A lot of drone operations are either done from general aviation airfields, or from farmer’s fields, with no facilities whatsoever. The Catapult’s new facility will provide drone companies with a purpose-built, secure environment, which segregates them from the restrictions that normally occur when you’re in a contended aviation environment.”

The site owners highlight that Westcott is already home to a number of drone operators including autonomous drone company Flare Bright, deep tech systems company Airspeed Electronics and drone consultancy Nexus Nine.

“We are thrilled to support this innovative project bringing yet another heritage area of the site back into use and extending the test capabilities at Westcott into the exciting field of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs),” said Nigel MacKenzie, Development Manager at Westcott Venture Park.

“Westcott is already home to a number of pioneering drone testing companies and these new facilities will benefit existing onsite occupiers as well as attracting new operators to the site. This will further enhance the ever-growing ecosystem of technology companies at Westcott and allow them to work collaboratively to undertake research and development of market-leading aviation technologies and services.”

In June 2021 a UK rocket test facility was opened at the Westcott Space Cluster – the National Space Propulsion Test Facility (NSPTF).

See also: The National Space Propulsion Test Facility is rocket testing