Connected Skies

Advances in autonomous aerial services are propelling us toward a generational change in information services and mobility that will transform the way we work and travel, such as:

30 minute click-to-package delivery

4X faster commute over rush hour gridlock

On-demand infrastructure inspection

Connected Skies is a term used to describe the integration of aviation and wireless technologies – with the goal of combining the incredible safety record of public aviation with the scalability and security of wireless cellular communications for Remote Piloted Aircraft Systems or RPAS.

Connected Skies will enable RPAS to fly missions Beyond Line Of Sight (BLOS), not just over great distances, but also making multi-vehicle, on-demand, untethered missions possible. This in turn will require the ability to predictably plan and respond to connectivity changes in order to maintain constant contact with remotely piloted aerial vehicles.

ClearSky calls this…

Continual Line of Sight

In order for the skies to become widely connected, we need to establish Continual Line of Sight, the ability for autonomous vehicles to seamlessly connect and maintain link connectivity wherever they travel. This in turn requires constant measurement and monitoring of communications channels such as wireless LTE and 5G services at altitude, across the sky.

More than just BLOS connectivity for command-and-control, Continual Line of Sight integrates Mission Visibility and Situational Awareness into Flight Planning and Operations. It continually monitors link availability and if disrupted at any point in the flight plan, provides the tactical awareness to self-correct in order to restore connectivity before taking additional action.

ClearSky’s Continual Line of Sight portfolio addresses both the flight operations and payload management aspects of aerial services:

DigitalFlight – ClearSky’s RPAS Traffic Management for Flight Operations

AerSense – ClearSky’s solution for managing Payload Services

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DigitalFlight (Ops)

A comprehensive suite of digital products and services that provide clarity for large scale RPAS flight planning, piloting and operations


Enterprises with large infrastructure investments considering remotely piloted aircraft systems to provide continuous insight into operations need clarity over current complex systems and processes.

The present state of the industry entails deployment of single line-of-sight missions. Capture of large-scale infrastructure data requires beyond-line-of-sight which will in turn demand integration of multiple digital systems for pre-flight planning, in-flight management and post-flight analysis. Predictable, industrial-strength systems that conform to public safety are not possible without it.

DigitalFlight enables rapid deployment, risk assessment and continuous operations based on connectivity assurance, workflow optimization and operational automation.


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AerSense (Payload)

A unique set of sensor and communications technology that aggregates processes and visualizes infrastructure status and performance in real-time

Enterprises have specific maintenance requirements for their unique infrastructure. In order to transform operations from reactive to predictive maintenance, sensors can be deployed that observe conditions over time in order to identify trends in asset performance.

When deployed on aerial vehicles such as RPAS, these sensors are referred to as payload. With Continual Line of Sight, large volumes of data can be collected and communicated in real time as flight operations can rapidly scan hundreds of miles of infrastructure at a time.

Sensors by themselves do not provide insights or intelligence. The data collected must be refined and visualized, through software and sophisticated algorithms. With sensor fusion, the correlation of multiple types of data, accuracy of results can be greater than on-site visits.

Included in AerSense is the ability to ‘virtually visit’ the site in real-time so Subject Matter Experts can avoid the expense and time of having to schedule site visits, coordinate resources and monitor weather.


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