The company, the first and only international company in the sector to be listed on NASDAQ and immersed in different European projects, will use the Hera Dron Hub space in the south car park of the Expo for its tests.
Zaragoza City Council has signed a strategic collaboration framework agreement with the multinational company Ehang Technology, a world leader in autonomous aerial vehicle technology. The agreement, promoted by the Public Services and Mobility Department, was signed by the Mayor of Zaragoza, Jorge Azcón, and the head of Ehang in Spain, Victoria Jing Xiang Ma.
Its main objectives are the development of projects and tests with drones for passengers and logistics, as well as the development of command and control platforms for this type of mobility in the Smart Cities environment.
USE OF THE HERA DRONE HUB IN ZARAGOZA
This agreement has been made possible thanks to the recent launch of the Hera Drone Hub in Zaragoza, the first European urban space for testing, experimentation and training of unmanned aircraft: research and development, training, certification and demonstration flights.
Hera Drone Hub makes Zaragoza the first European city to authorise an unmanned aircraft testing and training space in an urban environment. An innovation node that already allows real experience of the aerial mobility of the future.
It is this space that has made Ehang, a world leader in autonomous aerial vehicle technology, decide to choose Zaragoza for the development of several of its drone projects. Ehang is the first and only international company in the sector to be listed on the NASDAQ index.
Its projects focus on the development of safe, autonomous and sustainable aerial mobility, including passenger transport and efficient and automated logistics, the management of Smart Cities, light shows with drones, the command and control centre for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), etc.
EHang is immersed in R&D&I projects, developing technological solutions related to urban mobility such as “Smart City 3D Mobility”, based on autonomous aerial vehicles for passengers and logistics, which has made it a focus of attention in the scientific and technological field.
In addition, EHang participates in several UAM (Urban Air Mobility) projects promoted by SESAR JU (Single European Sky Atm Research Joint Undertaking) and the European Union.
ZARAGOZA, OPEN CITY
For its part, Zaragoza is developing different strategies at local, national and European level, and is actively participating in European and international forums in the field of sustainable urban mobility.
Our city is part of UIC2 (UAM Initiative Cities Community), promoting H2020 projects (e.g. Flying Forward 2020) and Horizon Europe, as well as the aforementioned test area (HERA Dron Hub) in the former Expo 2008 car park.
The City Council is aware that public/private partnerships in this area are essential to achieve the objectives. In these terms, Zaragoza and associated consortiums such as Dronica Valley are making expressions of interest of high innovative value that can be financed by the Resilience Plan and Next Generation EU.
The Aragonese capital is an ideal city for the development of UAM (Urban Air Mobility) projects due to its good infrastructures, competitive logistics centres, its culture open to innovation and so on. It is an ideal environment in the search for new opportunities that contribute to innovation, sustainability and improving the lives of its citizens.
As explained in the agreement, the cooperation between the parties will be positive for Zaragoza to continue to develop pioneering strategies and to lead European urban air mobility projects. In this sense, the vocation of “test city” for Smart City technology opens the door to the implementation of projects that can be replicated in other cities.
Ehang Spain will use its technological advantages and its R&D and manufacturing capabilities in autonomous aerial passenger and logistics vehicles in Zaragoza to create a test programme in accordance with Spanish and European legislation.
