Drone Operators beware: SORA published by JARUS. So what?

I know. Lots of acronyms in the aviation and drone industry. But what is behind this will prove to be very relevant to your drone operations in the near future - so read on...

JARUS (Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems), a group of experts gathering regulatory expertise from all around the world, is there to "recommend a single set of technical, safety and operational requirements for all aspects linked to the safe operation of the Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS)." So when they get together and come up with something, their guidance is heard aviation-industry-wide and by the regulators, who ultimately sign this stuff into law...

And those very laws will make your life as a drone operator either manageable, hard, or miserable. You may have heard that EASA, the European Aviation Safety Agency, has been busy putting forward an operation-centric risk framework. This is well underway to become an EU regulation sooner than later and will in turn shape the drone rules landscape in each member state.

Two categories of classifying drone operations have been tackled thus far by EASA - where the open category is fairly, well, open (as in "manageable"). Yet if you intend to do a bit more with your drone than just cruise across a grain field, then the specific category is where stuff gets interesting - and specific. Because when applying for the authorization of your drone flights, the risk for your intended project will be assessed based on SORA - the Specific Operations Risk Assessment.

The first iteration of it has just been published. It's admittedly far from easy to read, but working your way through it - and giving feedback about it - may well determine what you as an operator will be dealing with once this process gets implemented.

JARUS writes: This first issue of the SORA is meant to inspire operators and approving authorities and to highlight the benefits of a harmonized risk assessment methodology. As the work on the SORA evolves, feedback from operators and authorities that use the SORA is highly beneficial. The group is therefore making a call to everyone that will use the methodology to provide this feedback. For this reason, a specific "feedback form" has been created at https://jarus-rpas.org/feedback/SORA

Until Sept 15th, another important way to help shape the decisions that regulators will make, is participating in the UVSI industry survey: It is aimed at the worldwide UAS/RPAS/Drone operator community and is an opportunity for all drone operators to make sure that their specific flight missions/ applications are taken into account. It will permit to create a factual & realistic representation of the current & upcoming UAS/RPAS/Drone market sectors and flight missions.

The results will be presented in October to the European Commission, their agencies, as well as all relevant international bodies and national Civil Aviation Authorities, among many other industry associations and standard organizations and also will be publicly available, free of charge. Make your voice heard, invest 10 min. here, be an influencer: https://rpas-regulations.com/community-info/survey-on-drone-operations/