Nordluft tested drone system at Skellefteå Droneport

“It’s an amazing place for testing and work! There are excellent indoor facilities – large screens, office spaces, a heated hangar for equipment – and a perfectly located airspace nearby for testing new technology,” says Elof Winroth, CEO and founder of Nordluft.

Nordluft took part in the opening of the Droneport in the summer of 2025 and quickly saw the potential for different kinds of tests. They decided to carry out a volume test of their control system NGC, which coordinates a fleet of autonomous drones to efficiently and safely cover a designated work area.

The company develops a drone-based spreading system for forestry and agriculture, aiming to make spreading more efficient, precise, and cost-effective for both large forest companies and small landowners. Its first applications include forest fertilization and ash recycling, both of which have significant positive effects on forest growth and carbon sequestration.

During the three-day test period, the team began with coding work to resolve newly discovered bugs before starting flight testing. After about a day, flight tests began using smaller drones to simulate the larger spreading drones, and the volume tests produced very good results.

“It was an intense but very successful test period. For us, it was important to have a comfortable workspace and immediate access to testing nearby. We were able to verify that our system for mission planning and synchronization worked exactly as intended,” says Winroth.

According to Nordluft, Skellefteå Droneport offers an exceptionally good environment for testing and development. Winroth also sees great potential ahead when the D-area for BVLOS flights (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) is completed from the 10th of November.

“For future drone operations, it’s crucial to be able to test electronic visibility and cost-effective communication solutions between different types of air traffic. Such systems need to be tested in both rural and urban environments – and Skellefteå Droneport is perfectly located for that,” Winroth concludes.

On site at Skellefteå Droneport were Elof Winroth, CEO and founder of Nordluft, Camil Muresan, CTO, Leo McMillion, chief coder, as well as robotics expert consultants Casper Augustsson and Koray Amico Kulbay.