Uncrewed Aviation Flight Range and Command Centre Inaugurated at Latrobe Regional Airport
The Latrobe Aerospace Technology Precinct’s Flight Test Range Command Centre was officially inaugurated on 16th September at Latrobe Regional Airport.
A few months ago, Latrobe City Council entrusted Yarra Drones with the responsibility to design and establish this Command Centre. Seeing the facility officially opened yesterday and demonstrating a live drone operation from the Command Centre in front of government, industry and community representatives was an incredibly rewarding moment for our team.
We designed the Command Centre not simply as a room with screens, but as an operational environment for the future of uncrewed aviation – bringing together remote aircraft operations, airspace awareness, communications, live telemetry and the digital infrastructure needed to support increasingly autonomous and, ultimately, BVLOS operations subject to regulatory approvals.
What makes this particularly exciting is what comes next. The Command Centre, together with the Flight Test Range and the broader Latrobe Aerospace and Technology Precinct being developed by Latrobe City Council, provides an environment where industry can develop, integrate, test and demonstrate emerging uncrewed aviation and Advanced Air Mobility technologies.
I sincerely thank Latrobe City Council for placing its trust in Yarra Drones to deliver this capability, and particularly Bruce Connolly, Manager Investment Attraction, for his vision, commitment and support throughout the journey.
We would also like to acknowledge Carlyle Eves, Latrobe Regional Airport Manager; Toni Cutler; and Adam Broadbent, IT Support, Latrobe City Council, whose support helped us bring the Command Centre together.
It was a privilege to mark the opening alongside The The Hon. Harriet Shing MP, representing the Minister for Regional Development and Member for Eastern Victoria; Latrobe City Mayor Cr Sharon Gibson; industry partners; Council representatives; and the many people who have contributed to bringing this vision to life.
A big shoutout to everyone from the Yarra Drones team who worked behind the scenes to get us to yesterday.
A special thank you to FlytBase for providing the drone autonomy platform and for their technical support in integrating it with our soon-to-launch ATC4D platform. Seeing autonomous drone operations, command centre oversight and ATC4D working together during the live demonstration was an important part of showcasing the capability we have been building.
I would also like to thank Edward Barraclough, Founder and CEO of Drone-Hand, for working with us on the live demonstration and helping us bring the operational capability to life.
For us, the inauguration is not the end of the project. It is the beginning of what this facility can enable. We are proud to have designed and built this capability here in regional Victoria and even more excited about where we can take it from here.