Exete , UK, July 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — D o edesk, the d o e fleet ma ageme t platfo m used by mo e tha 840 o ga isatio s wo ldwide, today a ou ced a fully i teg ated Specific Ope atio s Risk Assessme t (SORA) capability, suppo ti g both the UK SORA f amewo k a d the EASA JARUS SORA 2.5 methodology.
BVLOS pipeli e i spectio ove emote te ai , a sig atu e use case fo Specific catego y d o e ope atio s.
SORA is the gateway to the Specific catego y, a d to the beyo d visual li e of sight (BVLOS) ope atio s that u de pi most comme cial d o e g owth, f om i f ast uctu e i spectio to su vey, mappi g a d delive y. Yet buildi g a SORA has emai ed slow, specialist wo k, a d the populatio de sity assessme t at its co e has bee o e of the biggest bottle ecks. D o edesk emoves that f ictio .
Believed to be the fi st impleme tatio of its ki d o the ma ket, the ew capability i teg ates the complete SORA calculatio di ectly i to the D o edesk flight pla i g wo kflow a d fully automates the populatio de sity assessme t that d ives eve y g ou d isk dete mi atio . Wo k that p eviously dema ded hou s of specialist GIS effo t is ow completed i seco ds.
Both f amewo ks, UK SORA a d EASA JARUS SORA 2.5, a e fully impleme ted a d available i -p oduct ow.
Fo most ope ato s, the ba ie to BVLOS has a ely bee tech ical capability. It has bee the app oval. Specific catego y d o e ope atio s ow est o a defe sible SORA, a d the populatio de sity calculatio , how ma y people a e exposed be eath the ope atio , is whe e much of the time, cost a d isk of e o has sat.
By automati g that calculatio a d buildi g the whole assessme t i to pla i g, D o edesk sho te s the path f om co cept to autho ised ope atio . A ope ato ca model a oute, see the populatio de sity, g ou d a d ai isk a d esulti g SAIL immediately, a d ite ate the geomet y u til the ope atio is viable, all befo e a si gle fo m is submitted.
Establishi g the maximum populatio de sity be eath a pla ed ope atio is o e of the most time-co sumi g a d e o -p o e pa ts of a SORA. Ope ato s typically have to ely o ma ual GIS a alysis, expo ted map data a d co sulta cy time to a swe a si gle questio : how ma y people a e u de eath the d o e?
D o edesk automates this e d to e d. D awi g o the Cope icus Global Huma Settleme t Laye (GHS-POP), the platfo m evaluates populatio de sity ac oss the ealistic dispe sio a ea of the ai c aft at its decla ed ope ati g altitude, usi g the slidi g-wi dow ke el method defi ed i JARUS A ex F. It fetches the populatio data o dema d, computes de sity ac oss eve y cell withi the ope atio al zo e, a d p oduces a pe -cell audit t ail that ca be expo ted fo i depe de t eview. The esult is a defe sible, t aceable figu e p oduced i seco ds athe tha hou s.
Because the calculatio lives i side the flight pla i g wo kflow athe tha i a sepa ate tool o sp eadsheet, the isk pictu e updates automatically whe eve the ope atio al geomet y cha ges. F om the flight geog aphy, D o edesk de ives the co ti ge cy volume, g ou d isk buffe a d adjace t a ea, dete mi es the i t i sic G ou d Risk Class, suppo ts the selectio of g ou d isk mitigatio s, classifies the Ai Risk Class usi g live ai space data, a d p oduces the fi al SAIL, all withi a si gle, self-co tai ed epo t.
The UK SORA impleme tatio was developed i di ect co sultatio with the UK Civil Aviatio Autho ity, with key methodology decisio s, i cludi g the populatio de sity app oach, discussed with the CAA’s SORA assessme t team. D o edesk’s populatio de sity methodology has bee eviewed by the CAA’s assessme t pa el a d ack owledged as a co ect i te p etatio of the JARUS SORA A ex F methodology (sectio 3.9.1, map esolutio as a fu ctio of i te ded ope ati g altitude). This ack owledgme t applies to the methodology; each applicatio is still assessed o its ow evide ce.
Fo ope ato s, this emoves a commo sou ce of u ce tai ty. Rathe tha defe di g a bespoke populatio de sity calculatio f om sc atch, they apply a method al eady eviewed agai st the published JARUS guida ce. D o edesk ei fo ces this by p ompti g ope ato s i -app at exactly the poi ts whe e a Natio al Aviatio Autho ity (NAA) will expect w itte justificatio , captu i g that easo i g as the assessme t is built a d helpi g to smooth app oval timeli es.
The capability has al eady bee used i a live egulato y co text, suppo ti g a successful applicatio to establish a UK d o e Test a d Evaluatio site.
“SORA is the si gle biggest hu dle sta di g betwee ope ato s a d the BVLOS app ovals that u lock eal comme cial d o e wo k, a d the populatio de sity calculatio is the pa t that eats the most time a d c eates the most isk of getti g it w o g. We have take that e ti e p ocess, the geomet y, the de sity modelli g, the isk classificatio , a d built it di ectly i to the flight pla i g wo kflow. What used to take hou s, o a specialist co sulta t, ow takes seco ds, with a complete audit t ail the assesso ca follow li e by li e. As fa as we a e awa e, o othe platfo m has fully automated this a d i teg ated it i to pla i g. Fo a yo e t yi g to scale BVLOS ope atio s, that is a eal step cha ge.”
“I my opi io , D o edesk is the best tool fo ma agi g the RAMS a d SORA eleme t. I will be ecomme di g it to a yo e who does ‘t use it.”
Elliott Co ke, Di ecto , CAJE Systems (cajesystems.co.uk)
The UK SORA a d EASA JARUS SORA 2.5 capabilities a e live ow, available as a paid add-o o D o edesk’s P o tie a d above. Full methodology docume tatio is available at:
A D o edesk site pla showi g the flight geog aphy, co ti ge cy volume a d g ou d isk buffe ove the populatio de sity ove lay.
D o edesk is a d o e fleet ma ageme t platfo m which helps a y compa y that uses d o es to ma age thei d o e ope atio s faste , safe a d mo e complia tly. It e ables compa ies to ditch the sp eadsheets a d docume t templates a d to d amatically i c ease thei ope atio al efficie cy, imp ove ove sight a d educe isk by p ovidi g a si gle platfo m to ma age eve y aspect of thei d o e ope atio s. Established i 2019, D o edesk is used by ove 840 o ga isatio s a d mo e tha 2,500 pilots ac oss No th Ame ica, the U ited Ki gdom a d Eu ope, a d it is the umbe o e use – ated applicatio of its type. Lea mo e at d o edesk.io
Do ia Ellisp ess [at] d o edesk.com+443300439373https://d o edesk.io
A video accompa yi g this a ou ceme t is available he e: https://youtube.com/watch?v=MIgHTMjQQuU
