Flight Safety Analysis Tool for Space Vehicle Operations in the National Airspace

Abstract

The military, civilian and commercial demands on space access are expected to experience a continuing increase. The many potential applications have been greeted by a plethora of new launch vehicle concepts with promises to enable more launches with reduced cost and improved reliability. The expectation that some reusable launch vehicles can operate to and from regular runways suggests the possibility of having spaceports conveniently located over the continental US. However, the prospects of allocating reserved airspace to support the increasing frequency of launches will likely be unwelcome to the air transportation community. Furthermore, the relatively lower reliability of space transportation vehicles compared to that of air transportation vehicles means that their operational requirements will need to look beyond normal operations to account for their impact on the air traffic and ground populations. An analysis tool has been developed to facilitate the study of new launch vehicle concepts and new spaceport locations in terms of their impact on the air traffic and ground populations. The tool has potential applications in spaceport planning, launch licensing, and mission planning. It will allow air traffic control to anticipate the impact of space transportation operations on the air traffic, using data made available close to the launch or return time windows. It will also enable launch operators to monitor space launch and return operations with visualization of the real-time air traffic, and perform post-operation or post-accident analyses.