Airborne capabilities for supporting reducing ATM environmental footprint

The HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02 call focuses on enhancing airborne capabilities to diminish the environmental footprint of Air Traffic Management (ATM). It is part of the Horizon Europe initiative, with an emphasis on research and innovation actions, innovation actions, and coordination and support actions. The funding is primarily directed at research organizations, public entities, and non-profits based in EU member states and associated countries.

The grant operates on a single-stage application process, with a submission deadline set for September 16, 2025. Eligible applicants may include universities, research institutes, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and large organizations involved in research and innovation, although specific mention of each type is not detailed in the data. The funding is disbursed as lump sum grants, with the total sum potentially varying significantly depending on the specific project, generally falling within the range of €1 million to €31 million.

The call encourages collaboration among consortia, although it does not explicitly mandate this. Typically, Horizon Europe actions require at least three independent entities from different EU countries, suggesting that a consortium is likely necessary. Geographic funding eligibility primarily concerns EU member states and associated countries, with potential inclusions for specific third countries as outlined in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

The targeted sectors revolve around transport—specifically aviation—and environmental sustainability, focusing on areas such as environmentally driven trajectory optimization, wake energy retrieval (WER), environmentally friendly terminal maneuvering area operations, and climate impact mitigation. Research must align with improving technologies and operational concepts that reduce emissions and noise and enhance safety.

The total funding allocation across various grant topics within this call varies, with specific amounts designated for each topic and an indicative number of grants provided. The call also stipulates that the projects can span a maximum duration of 36 months. Importantly, while the default funding rate is noted at 70%, projects should adequately demonstrate financial and operational capacity.

Evaluation criteria for submitted applications will focus on excellence, impact, and implementation, with respective weightings of 40%, 40%, and 20%. The call encompasses various aspects of air traffic management improvement and aims to foster collaborative, innovative solutions that adhere to the overarching goals of reducing aviation's environmental impact.

The HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02 call aims to advance development actions related to airborne capabilities that support reducing the environmental footprint of Air Traffic Management (ATM). This includes research and innovation in areas such as wake energy retrieval (WER), energy-based operations, environment-driven trajectory optimization, and geometric altimetry. The call is part of the HORIZON Call Digital European Sky Industrial Research 02 program.

The call includes multiple topics with distinct budget allocations, action types, and scopes. All topics share a single-stage submission model, with the opening date set for April 1, 2025, and a deadline of September 16, 2025, at 17:00 Brussels time. The action type for most topics is HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Actions (HORIZON-JU-RIA), while some topics are HORIZON JU Innovation Actions (HORIZON-JU-IA) or HORIZON JU Coordination and Support Actions (HORIZON-JU-CSA). The Model Grant Agreement (MGA) type is HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS].

Here's a breakdown of the topics and their respective details:

HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA1-1: HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Actions, Budget: EUR 20,000,000, Contribution per project: EUR 4,000,000 to EUR 10,000,000, Indicative number of grants: 2.

HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA2-1: HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Actions, Budget: EUR 14,000,000, Contribution per project: EUR 2,000,000 to EUR 7,000,000, Indicative number of grants: 2.

HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA3-1: HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Actions, Budget: EUR 93,000,000, Contribution per project: EUR 9,000,000 to EUR 31,000,000, Indicative number of grants: 3.

HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA3-2: HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Actions, Budget: EUR 20,000,000, Contribution per project: EUR 5,000,000 to EUR 10,000,000, Indicative number of grants: 2.

HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA4-1: HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Actions, Budget: EUR 24,000,000, Contribution per project: EUR 5,000,000 to EUR 12,000,000, Indicative number of grants: 2.

HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA4-2: HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Actions, Budget: EUR 6,000,000, Contribution per project: EUR 1,000,000 to EUR 3,000,000, Indicative number of grants: 2.

HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA5-1, HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA5-2 and HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA5-3: HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Actions, Budget: EUR 30,000,000, Contribution per project: EUR 3,000,000 to EUR 6,000,000, Indicative number of grants: 1 for each, totaling 3.

HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA6-1, HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA6-2 and HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA6-3: HORIZON JU Innovation Actions, Budget: EUR 20,000,000, Contribution per project: EUR 2,000,000 to EUR 5,000,000, Indicative number of grants: 1 for each, totaling 3.

HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA7-1: HORIZON JU Coordination and Support Actions, Budget: EUR 2,000,000, Contribution per project: EUR 1,000,000 to EUR 2,000,000, Indicative number of grants: 1.

HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA7-2: HORIZON JU Coordination and Support Actions, Budget: EUR 1,000,000, Contribution per project: EUR 500,000 to EUR 1,000,000, Indicative number of grants: 1.

The scope of the research includes:

Environmentally Driven Trajectory Planning: Developing technologies and operational concepts for optimized trajectories considering CO2 and non-CO2 effects, accurate models for aircraft performance and climate impact, integration of CO2 emission profiles, eco-sensitive regions, aircraft dynamical models, and optimization algorithms. The algorithms should consider air traffic management aspects such as safety, traffic demand, and complexity.

Wake Energy Retrieval (WER): Developing and validating concepts of operations for scaling up WER, including ground and airborne technical developments, procedures, support tool integration in common FDP systems, and automation steps to enhance ATCO efficiency. Research should address air-to-air communication for WER and pave the way for standardization and certification of new airborne and ground systems.

Environmentally Friendly TMA Operations: Enhancing flight management systems to advise pilots for optimal flight, including aircraft configuration and vertical profile optimization. It also includes new airspace management techniques and support tools for optimal routing in the terminal manoeuvring area (TMA).

Voluntary Mitigation of Climate Impact: Updating state-of-the-art FOC and/or EFB applications to implement multi-objective flight planning via the integration of climate impact models, considering the overall climate impact (CO2 and non-CO2 effects) and the uncertainty in weather forecast.

Environmentally Optimised Operations with Geometric Altitude: Investigating the potential of extending the use of geometric altimetry enabled by satellite navigation to increase safety and deliver environmental benefits. This includes earlier barometric to geometric transition in the approach, extension of the geometric altimetry concept in the climb/descent phase, geometric altimetry above the transition layer, and potential reduction of separation minima thanks to more precise altimetry.

Several general conditions apply to this call, including admissibility conditions, eligible countries, and financial and operational capacity. The evaluation criteria include excellence (40%), impact (40%), and implementation (20%). The funding rate is 70% for all beneficiaries, and eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum. There are additional dissemination and exploitation obligations, and a collaboration agreement is required. The maximum project duration is 36 months.

Applicants are encouraged to consult the SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking Bi-Annual Work Programme (BAWP) 2024-2025 - Annex III, application form templates, evaluation form templates, model grant agreements, call-specific instructions, and additional documents for more information.

In summary, this call focuses on funding research and innovation projects that aim to reduce the environmental impact of aviation by improving airborne capabilities and air traffic management practices. It covers a wide range of topics, from trajectory optimization and wake energy retrieval to geometric altimetry and flight planning tools. The call encourages collaboration and the development of solutions that are aligned with the European ATM Master Plan. The funding is provided as a lump sum, and successful projects will be expected to disseminate their results and contribute to the standardization and certification of new systems.

Eligible Applicant Types: The raw content does not explicitly list the eligible applicant types. However, based on the "HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Actions" and "HORIZON JU Innovation Actions" funding types, it can be inferred that eligible applicants may include universities, research institutes, SMEs, large enterprises, and other organizations involved in research and innovation. The presence of "Coordination and Support Actions" (CSA) suggests that NGOs and other support organizations could also be eligible.

Funding Type: The primary funding type is a grant, specifically "HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS]". There are different types of actions including "HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Actions," "HORIZON JU Innovation Actions," and "HORIZON JU Coordination and Support Actions."

Consortium Requirement: The content does not explicitly state whether a single applicant or a consortium is required. However, the mention of "Partner Search announcements" and the need for a "collaboration agreement" suggest that consortia are encouraged or may be required, especially for larger projects.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The content mentions "non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding" but have made provisions, suggesting that the primary geographic eligibility is for EU and associated countries. However, some third countries may also be eligible under specific conditions outlined in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

Target Sector: The primary target sector is air traffic management (ATM) with a focus on reducing the environmental footprint. This includes areas such as environmentally driven trajectory optimisation, wake energy retrieval (WER), environmentally friendly TMA operations, geometric altimetry, and climate impact mitigation. The specific sectors include aviation, aerospace, environmental research, and technology development related to air transport.

Mentioned Countries: The content does not explicitly mention specific countries, but it refers to "EU" and "non-EU/non-Associated Countries". Therefore, the relevant regions are the European Union and associated countries, with potential eligibility for specific third countries as defined in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

Project Stage: The project stages range from research to innovation actions, suggesting a focus on development, validation, and demonstration. The inclusion of "Coordination and Support Actions" also indicates support for projects in the early stages of development and those focused on dissemination and stakeholder engagement.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic within the call, ranging from €500,000 to €31,000,000. The specific ranges for each topic are detailed in the "Budget overview" section.

Application Type: The application type is an "open for submission" call with a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a lump sum grant.

Application Stages: The application process is a single-stage process.

Success Rates: The success rates are not mentioned in the provided content.

Co-funding Requirement: The content does not explicitly mention a co-funding requirement. However, the funding rate of 70% implies that beneficiaries need to cover the remaining 30% of the eligible costs, which could be considered a co-funding requirement.

Summary:

This is a Horizon Europe call under the Digital European Sky Industrial Research 02 (HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02) program, focusing on research and innovation actions (RIA), innovation actions (IA), and coordination and support actions (CSA) to advance airborne capabilities for reducing the environmental footprint of air traffic management (ATM). The call aims to support projects that develop technologies and operational concepts for environmentally driven trajectory planning, wake energy retrieval, environmentally friendly TMA operations, climate impact mitigation, and environmentally optimised operations with geometric altitude. The geographic focus is primarily on EU and associated countries, with potential eligibility for specific third countries. The funding is provided as lump sum grants, with a 70% funding rate, and projects can last up to 36 months. The call encourages collaboration and knowledge sharing among projects and requires a collaboration agreement. The application process is a single-stage submission, with a deadline of September 16, 2025. The evaluation criteria include excellence, impact, and implementation, with specific weighting for each. The call seeks to improve aircraft flight planning, navigation, and communication systems to reduce CO2 and non-CO2 emissions, noise, and overall climate impact, while ensuring safety and efficiency in air traffic management.