On November 12, the CAUS Institute of Low-altitude Aviation Safety was inaugurated in Changsha. It is expected to fill the gaps in low-altitude aircraft airworthiness certification and airspace operation management and control, marking a shift in Hunan's low-altitude economy from "flyable" to "manageable."
  
The CAUS Institute of Low-altitude Aviation Safety is a civil aviation low-altitude navigation safety research institution established under the leadership of the Civil Aviation University of China, headed by Chen Zhijie and Su Donglin, two academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE). With a total planned investment of approximately 270 million CNY, it adopts an "institute headquarters + public test platforms + scenario validation bases" three-in-one model. It features four research centers for low-altitude flight safety, airworthiness certification technology, low-altitude new infrastructure, and low-altitude traffic management, along with ten professional test platforms, airspace flight test zones, and an airworthiness certification big data service platform.
  
"As the low-altitude economy shifts from equipment manufacturing to large-scale operation, the real threshold lies not in whether you can build or fly an aircraft, but in whether you can obtain verifiable qualifications and achieve traceable, safe operation." A spokesperson from the institute said that relying on the key laboratories of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), the institute integrates airworthiness certification, safety assessment, and air traffic management capability into the key links of obtaining certification, validation, and routine safe operation. Its business covers research and formulation of standards, airworthiness certification technical support, test verification, airspace planning, and air traffic management.

An official from the Development and Reform Commission of Hunan Province stated that the institute will facilitate mutual support between the two major systems—airworthiness certification and low-altitude air traffic management, allowing enterprises to complete certification at their doorstep. With Changsha as a pilot, it will assist CAAC in establishing aircraft airworthiness certification standards and low-altitude air traffic management standards, accelerating the implementation of the low-altitude economy standards system. It will attract more than ten enterprises to settle in, helping form an industrial park with an annual output value exceeding five billion CNY and training more than 300 professionals annually.
 
On the same day, the institute signed strategic cooperation agreements with 20 partners, including research institutions, representative enterprises, and industrial platforms. Their cooperation will cover such areas as Means of Compliance (MC) for airworthiness, low-altitude infrastructure planning, inspection, and testing, low-altitude logistics, and talent cultivation.

This article is from Hunan Provincial Government. www.enghunan.gov.cn. 

Translator: Pang Yuehui 

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn