26 June 2020
It is not a secret that the drone world is up and coming. Urban Air Mobility (UAM) and U-space are resounding terms for anyone in the aviation industry. While U-space refers to services and procedures to support drone operations and integration with manned aviation, UAM entails the application of drone operations in an urban environment.
29 May 2020
The world is in the grip of the coronavirus. The human, social and economic consequences are huge. The crisis is also having an impact in the aviation sector and for Royal NLR. Michel Peters is speaking about the period after the coronavirus: survival first, followed by innovation with a new focus on ‘green recovery’.
11 May 2020
A good two months ago, I read Delta's announcement to mitigate all its CO2 emissions from March 2020. With such a statement from one of the world’s largest airlines, 2020 seemed to me to be a great year for sustainability in aviation.
21 April 2020
The Netherlands and Norway are developing two intelligence nanosatellites that will orbit the Earth in tandem formation. This is a bilateral research mission to investigate the sources of radar signals.
31 March 2020
Nitrogen is a complex subject that you’ve probably heard and read a lot about lately. Aviation plays a part in it and the experts at Royal NLR are working hard on the challenges this creates. We’re happy to share the knowledge we gain doing this, which is why we’ve answered various questions about this hot topic below.
07 February 2020
Reducing emissions and curbing broader climate impact are currently hot topics in aviation, and rightly so. However, only considering flight emissions is like wanting to bake a cake, but only using one ingredient. Although essential, flight emissions do not cover the full life cycle of an aircraft. They are a limited amount of the overall energy consumption and emissions related to aviation.
04 December 2019
NLR is performing a multi-year study in partnership with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems UK (GA-UK), to develop the procedures needed to safely and efficiently integrate Medium Altitude, Long Endurance (MALE) Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) into European Airspace and to ultimately develop a data-driven Concept of Operation (CONOP) to be shared with the European regulatory community. For the purposes of this research, the MQ-9B SkyGuardian MALE RPAS, designed and manufactured by GA-ASI, is used as an example case study. NLR is now working on the second phase of this project that is to take place from November 2019 to end 2020.
18 November 2019
Join our Metal Additive Manufacturing certification programme. After the first successful metal Additive Manufacturing programme, the Netherlands Aerospace Centre now offers a follow-up programme to support participants in their ambition to introduce certified metal AM parts.
10 October 2019
Beamforming antennas (also known as phased-array or beamsteering antennas) utilize a series of antenna elements that allow the antenna bundle to be controlled electronically instead of mechanically. This allows signals to be emitted in or received from the correct direction. This is an important advantage for non-fixed systems such as aircraft and satellites. In addition, the radiation diagram can be adjusted so that the antenna sends or receives in one or more directions or that it receives more information or emits more energy in one specific direction than another. Because they are controlled electronically, beam-forming antennas are less vulnerable and do not require mechanical maintenance.
