Unifly & Nexova complete NAVISP phase to advance cyber-resilient U-space operations

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Unifly, in cooperation with Nexova, have successfully completed the SecureUTM 2 Phase I under the European Space Agency’s (ESA) NAVISP program, with emphasis on mitigating GNSS jamming and spoofing.

The project establishes a certification-aligned, risk-driven cybersecurity foundation for secure, resilient and scalable unmanned traffic management (UTM) and U-space services across Europe. 

As drone operations grow in complexity and cross-border interoperability, cybersecurity is becoming essential for operational continuity and public trust. SecureUTM 2 embeds cybersecurity engineering into the core architecture of UTM systems, aligning with European U-space regulations, Common Criteria methodology and ENISA risk frameworks. Security is treated as a foundational design principle rather than a late-stage compliance requirement. 

Building on SecureUTM 1, SecureUTM 2 Phase I significantly expanded the cybersecurity baseline for UTM systems. Key outcomes include: 

Refinement of a harmonized Protection Profile (PP) for UTM 

Development of an updated Security Target (ST) for the Unifly platform 

Structured risk assessment and certification-aligned gap analysis 

Definition of a secure architectural baseline addressing real-world U-space complexity 

Setup of a PoC Testbed 

Risk-based engineering roadmap

A control-by-control gap assessment translated cybersecurity requirements into a prioritised implementation roadmap. Focus areas include: 

PNT source authentication and plausibility checks 

Enhanced session integrity and transport protection 

Denial-of-Service resilience 

Device-level authentication and auditing 

Secure storage and encryption 

This structured approach supports operational deployment and future EU cybersecurity certification readiness. 

Validated mitigations for GNSS and PNT threats

SecureUTM 2 phase I placed strong emphasis on GNSS jamming and spoofing risks increasingly observed in drone operations. Practical, layered mitigations were validated through a dedicated U-space proof-of-concept testbed with Hardware-in-the-Loop UAV simulations. 

Validated measures include: 

On-board GNSS jamming detection 

Fleet-level interference inference 

Trajectory plausibility and conformance monitoring 

OSNMA-based message verification 

Structured anomaly logging and alerting 

The testbed enables repeatable attack simulation, KPI-based evaluation and regulator-ready evidence generation. 

Foundation for Phase II and European deployment

Phase I also delivered a structured U-space testbed blueprint, verification methodologies and digital twin foundations to support continued validation, operator training and continuous cybersecurity testing. 

SecureUTM 2 directly supports Belgium’s U-space deployment strategy and strengthens its position in secure drone integration. 

Phase II will focus on implementing prioritised controls, expanding validation capabilities and further aligning with EU certification frameworks.