Construction of drone center Ostend approved
“The establishment and construction of this center fits perfectly with Ostend’s ambition to be a real pioneer city,” says the city.
“Drones are being used for more and more purposes and in more and more domains: transport, surveillance, transport, … The technology is developing at lightning speed. A top infrastructure for the development, testing and evaluation of drones is therefore important.
POM West Flanders and the Drone Port West Flanders consortium are taking the lead to build an innovative drone center on Ostend soil. Funds from the European Drone Innovations project will be used for the realization of the construction.”
Indoor and outdoor flying
“There will be a shed and an outdoor flying cage, a steel skeleton structure fitted with nets. In this way, drones can be tested indoors, regardless of the weather conditions. The outdoor structure makes it possible to test in wind and weather and still be sure that the drones function in controlled conditions. Both buildings form an architectural whole,” said alderman for Environmental Permits Kurt Claeys.
Pioneering city with drones
“Drone Hub is an important new step in the progress of the drone projects in Ostend. The city chose to focus on research and (industrial) applications of drones. After all, excellent drone applications were already present on the territory, such as the underwater drones of the Vliz.
We are now succeeding in further developing a real cluster, just think of the drone factory that has already been built and the return of the navy. We are therefore grateful to the POM and Vives for their further support and for contributing to this story with Drone Hub”, adds Verkeyn.
Drone Hub is being built in the Nieuwpoortsesteenweg next to the VLOC.