Imagine flying a drone beyond the pilot’s line of sight — over cities, across infrastructure, or through unpredictable airspace — and still having complete situational awareness in real time. No guesswork, no blind spots, just a full operational picture on a single screen. That’s exactly what Kongsberg Geospatial delivers with its Iris Terminal.
Kongsberg Geospatial, a Canadian-based subsidiary of Norway’s 200-year-old Kongsberg Group, brings its aerospace and defence expertise into the drone industry. The company enables mission-critical decisions with its real-time software for mapping, geospatial visualisation, and situational awareness.
At Airspace World 2025 in Lisbon, DroneTalks' Co-founder and CEO Eszter Kovács spoke with Jayant Sachdev, Kongsberg Geospatial’s Product Manager, to explore how their technology is transforming beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations with tools designed for real-time airspace awareness and regulatory compliance.
From defence-grade mapping to commercial UAV solutions
Kongsberg Geospatial has long been recognised for its high-fidelity mapping and visualisation tools within the defence sector. Grown from Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, Kongsberg Geospatial brings over 30 years of expertise in real-time geospatial software for defence and unmanned systems.
Its solutions are widely deployed in C2 and air traffic control systems, trusted daily by military personnel, first responders, and air traffic controllers. Committed to ethical practices, sustainability, and community engagement, the company pairs technical excellence with a strong sense of social responsibility.
Central to this Kongsberg Geospatial legacy is TerraLens, a software development kit (SDK) that powers custom visualisation systems for mission-critical applications.
With support for unlimited 2D/3D viewports, real-time data overlays, and military symbology standards, TerraLens enables rapid development of robust geospatial applications across Windows, Linux, and Android. Its proven performance at scale, which lies in plotting thousands of tracks simultaneously, makes it a trusted foundation for situational awareness in defence, aerospace, and autonomous systems.
"Terra Lens is an SDK that we provide out to many customers — defence customers — and it provides very high-fidelity mapping tools for people to build custom maps and custom applications built on those maps," explained Jayant.
TerraLens stands out for its flexibility and ease of integration, supporting a wide range of map formats, GUI toolkits, and low-power architectures. Backed by decades of development and long-term support, it empowers developers to tailor scalable solutions while maintaining performance under the most demanding operational conditions.
Iris Terminal: Real-time airspace intelligence for BVLOS and conflict deconfliction
At the heart of Kongsberg Geospatial’s commercial unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) offering is the Iris Terminal, a dynamic airspace intelligence platform built to enable safe, scalable BVLOS operations. Designed as both a regulatory tool and a situational awareness system, Iris Terminal brings together multiple data streams into a unified, real-time view of the airspace; offering drone operators what the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) refers to as an electronic observer.
This means replacing traditional visual observers with a digital system that does more than just detect — it helps predict and prevent conflicts before they occur.
“We input everything into a single pane of glass so you can visualise it and deconflict it on a single screen,” said Jayant. “It gives you a full common operating picture of your airspace.”
Iris Terminal integrates high-fidelity maps with dynamic overlays, including real-time airspace classifications, weather data, EO/IR sensors, ADS-B signals, radar feeds, and your own drone telemetry. These inputs are layered to allow precise airspace deconfliction, creating a seamless view that helps operators comply with BVLOS regulations and maintain safety in complex or shared environments.
A key feature of the system is its intelligent alerting system. During a live demonstration, Jayant showcased how the platform automatically flagged a Cessna aircraft entering a drone’s defined “well-clear” boundary; instantly alerting the operator with a warning and then escalating to a conflict status when separation was lost.
"The thought process is: When it's a warning, you can take corrective action and prevent those conflicts from occurring," he explained. "And it gives the operators all the tools to do that in real time."
Operators can also tailor their airspace settings by defining no-fly zones, custom flight corridors, and even population density thresholds — which is crucial when flying over inhabited areas where extra caution and justification are required for BVLOS approval.
By layering these data sources and creating automated alerts, Iris Terminal empowers drone operators to maintain safety, streamline mission planning, and build credible safety cases for regulators. It’s not just about seeing what’s in the sky — it’s about proactively managing what could happen next.
Unified airspace visualisation with multi-sensor fusion and flexible flight planning
One of Iris Terminal’s most powerful capabilities lies in its ability to fuse multiple sensor inputs into a single, coherent view of the airspace. Traditionally, operators might juggle separate systems for radar, telemetry, EO/IR sensors, or ADS-B feeds — each offering a fragmented snapshot. Iris Terminal changes that by correlating all incoming data streams into a unified track, reducing confusion and presenting a clear operational picture.
"So, if I go in over here and turn on all my various sensors — ADS-B, radar, and then our actual simulator telemetry — you can see on our drone, we actually have multiple tracks," Jayant noted. "We're showing additional information, and this may start diverging depending on the air tolerances from those sensors."
This level of data fusion not only improves situational awareness but also reduces the risk of misinterpretation, particularly during high-tempo or BVLOS missions where real-time decision-making is critical.
"It's ensuring that you meet your regulatory compliance from your flights, and you can prove that out to the regulators to keep flying beyond visual line of sight," he added.
Layered on top of this core functionality is Iris Terminal’s ability to customise and adapt to mission-specific needs. Operators can define their own flight corridors in 3D, dynamically draw no-fly zones, and even overlay population density maps to help demonstrate regulatory compliance and minimise risk.
For instance, an operator performing a railway inspection can simulate a defined corridor, visualise the route in three dimensions, and monitor potential incursions in real time. If the drone nears an area of high population density or restricted airspace, alerts can be triggered and corrective actions taken.
"You can set custom rules for alerting and conflict based on not only your own drones going out of that airspace, but also third-party traffic going into that," Jayant explained.
This combination of real-time multi-sensor awareness and user-defined airspace controls gives operators the tools to build intelligent, flexible flight plans that adapt to their environment without compromising safety or compliance. It’s a true leap forward for scalable, data-driven UAS operations.
Building the future of automated drone operations
Kongsberg Geospatial’s approach aligns closely with the industry’s push toward automated, scalable BVLOS operations. By providing a real-time, layered view of airspace, Iris Terminal makes it easier for drone operators to build safety cases, navigate regulatory requirements, and scale operations across geographies.
With support for multi-sensor integration, real-time alerts, and complete customisability, Iris Terminal stands out as a platform designed not just for today’s operations, but also (and especially) for the unmanned airspace of the future.
As more operators shift toward long-range, automated drone services, the demand for integrated situational awareness tools like Iris Terminal is only expected to grow. And with roots in defence-grade geospatial tech, Kongsberg Geospatial is well positioned to lead the charge.
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