Computer simulation and analysis tool for air and space traffic interaction research

Abstract

Driven by anticipated increase in satellite deployments and corresponding increase on space-launch demand, numerous domestic and international government programs as well as several start-up private ventures have been formed to develop launch vehicles that will provide less expensive alternatives to the current fleet, including numerous reusable launch vehicle concepts. The different launch-vehicle concepts are expected to have different operational characteristics, and thus different impact and requirements on the National Airspace System (NAS). This paper describes a set of computer analysis capabilities being developed for the study of air traffic management issues related to the space operations. NASA already has the Future ATM Concepts Evaluation Tool (FACET) for evaluation of advanced technologies on the air traffic over the continental U.S. The computer tool described in this paper builds on FACET to include the capability to model and analyze space-flight operations within the NAS. Specifically, it includes an extensible model database for inclusion of future launch and return vehicle models for simulation and analysis; modeling of new reserved airspace definitions; functionality for analyzing launch/return operations and potential debris fallout; and more powerful visualization capabilities. The computer tool will be instrumental for studying the interaction of air and space traffic with regard to such issues as air traffic control, spaceport operations, airspace environments, automation and decision-support tools, and communication, navigation, and surveillance.