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Writer: Kolbrún Gunnarsdóttir
Kolbrún Gunnarsdóttir
Oct 27

Every year after the summer, our team takes time to pause, reconnect, and align as we prepare for the winter months ahead. This year, our annual Autumn Summit brought us to the beautiful city of Budapest! A special location for us, as it is home to one of our offices and team members!


It was a fantastic opportunity to bring together colleagues working across Iceland, Poland, Hungary, and other international locations under one roof. Beyond the engaging discussions, it gave us all a chance to celebrate our shared achievements, connect face-to-face, and enjoy great company.


 


As part of our summit tradition, we took time to recognize and celebrate several team members reaching major long-term service anniversaries. Their expertise, dedication, and collaborative spirit are at the core of our culture.

 

 

We discussed our ongoing evolution, strengthening our team structures, and preparing for major upcoming global commitments.

While we continue to maintain our strong track record of delivering high-quality solutions on time and on budget, there are very exciting developments and big projects on the horison.

 

Following the summit sessions, we celebrated our annual Árshátíð (a cherished Icelandic tradition of an annual corporate gala celebration). We took to the water for a scenic boat ride along the Danube River, taking in the stunning views of Budapest at night while enjoying an incredible dinner, drinks, and evening together.


 

After inspiring sessions, great food, and plenty of laughs together in Budapest, our team returns home energised, motivated, and closely aligned for what’s next.

 

Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make this year's Autumn Summit and Árshátíð such a memorable success!

 

Tern Systems is proud to announce the successful completion of Site Acceptance Testing (SAT) for our complete Polaris ATM System at Cranfield Airport.


 

This achievement brings Cranfield Airport one step closer to making the leap from procedural-only to full surveillance control. Working in close collaboration with our project partner, EASAT Radar Systems, this system is designed to equip Cranfield’s Air Traffic Controllers with the tools necessary to manage complex airspace with higher efficiency and safety.

 

To ensure the upcoming transition is seamless, our engineering team worked side-by-side with Cranfield controllers directly in the remote tower, refining the system interface in real time to adapt to their exact operational workflows and daily user feedback.

 

That collaborative effort culminated in intensive testing where the entire integrated system passed all Site Acceptance Testing requirements without issue. By seamlessly ingesting and processing high-precision surveillance data from EASAT’s new Primary and Secondary Surveillance Radar setup, Polaris demonstrated its ability to provide controllers with a rich, real-time digital picture of the local airspace.

 

Once operational, moving to surveillance-based tactical control will enable controllers to separate arriving aircraft by distance rather than time, significantly boosting airport capacity while giving controllers clear visibility of non-participating aircraft in the vicinity. Beyond immediate operational gains, this milestone establishes a foundational platform for Cranfield University to advance world-class research into complex air mobility and Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) integration.

 

We extend our sincere thanks to the Cranfield and EASAT teams for their close partnership, as well as the entire Tern Systems team whose dedication brought us through a successful SAT. As controllers prepare for live training, we look forward to the upcoming deployment that will see Polaris power the next generation of air traffic management.

We are proud to announce our transition to a full member of the SESAR Joint Undertaking (SESAR JU), marking a significant milestone in our long-standing commitment to modernizing Air Traffic Management (ATM).


The SESAR JU recently welcomed us alongside three other new members, Avinor, NAV CANADA, and Unifly, expanding the partnership to 59 organizations. This expansion strengthens SESAR's push toward delivering the Digital European Sky, a critical initiative for creating a more competitive, resilient, and sustainable aviation infrastructure across Europe and globally.


A Strong Foundation for Global Collaboration

We have been a dedicated partner of SESAR JU for the past years, actively contributing to its research and innovation activities. Elevating our relationship to full membership reflects our continued confidence in SESAR’s partnership model, which unites industry leaders, operational actors, academia, and innovators.


"SESAR has created one of Europe’s most important innovation ecosystems, bringing together ANSPs, industry, researchers, and regulators to solve common challenges and accelerate the modernization of Air Traffic Management," said Magnús Már Þórðarson, our CEO. "We are proud to join this collaborative effort and contribute to building a more open, interoperable, and innovative ATM ecosystem for Europe."

Leading Next-Generation Research

Our full membership coincides with an intensive period of research and development for us. This upcoming fall, we will contribute to five research projects through the SESAR framework, further cementing our role as a key innovator in the ATM sector.


The flagship initiative among these is the NOMAD project, which we will be actively leading. As the coordinator of this major project, we will lead a consortium of 17 partners to develop a new generation of air traffic management platform built around cloud technology, automation, cybersecurity, and real-time data sharing. Our goal is to enable air navigation service providers to adapt capacity dynamically to traffic demand while reducing delays, emissions, and operational complexity.


By participating in these research projects and stepping into our role as a full SESAR JU member, we are uniquely positioned to help shape a safer, more efficient, and connected sky for the future.


About SESAR JU

The SESAR Joint Undertaking (SESAR JU) is a European public-private partnership responsible for modernizing Europe’s air traffic management (ATM) system. It was established by the European Union to coordinate research, development, and deployment of technologies that improve how aircraft move through European airspace. SESAR stands for Single European Sky ATM Research.






 

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