Air Traffic Impact Analysis Design for a Suborbital Point-to-Point Passenger Transport Concept

Space flight activities are growing on an international level, thereby creating an evident need for a safe and efficient integration of space vehicle operations into the air traffic system. For concepts like very high-speed intercontinental passenger transport via suborbital point-2-point flights, as it is proposed by the DLR SpaceLiner, this integration issue is becoming especially relevant. As part of a case study approach to analyse the effects of space vehicle operations on air traffic and to evaluate mitigation strategies and optimized ATM integration, a traffic impact analysis has been prepared and conducted for the SpaceLiner return trajectory towards a European landing site. First results of the analysis will be presented together with the methodology and modeling approach which has been applied

Assessment of the Impact of Air Launch Operations on Air Traffic in Europe

The development in commercial space transportation is strongly driven by a growing demand for payload capacities and cost efficient access to space. Accordingly, there is also a demand for further launch opportunities in the European region. Factors such as short waiting times for launches, rapid response capabilities, proximity of production sites to the launch site and independence from established and highly utilized launch systems are increasingly playing a role. Air launches are discussed as a way to meet this demand. They also offer the particular advantage of relatively low requirements on infrastructure and location of the spaceport compared to conventional vertical launch systems. Since the actual launch is not bound to the spaceport, this method also offers a high degree of flexibility with regard to the design of the launch trajectory and the associated interaction with air traffic. This paper examines the interaction between proposed air launch operations and air traffic for a previously selected mission profile in Northern Europe. Data from historic launch events are used as an input for modelling of the required flight restriction areas. The analysis provides information on the expected extent of air traffic impairments and existing optimization capabilities

Air Traffic Impact Analysis Design SL and Air Launch Use Cases

Space flight activities are becoming an eminent part of flight operations in the world today. Launch and re-entry operations are expected to grow beyond state use and research purposes into a commercial space transportation business. That creates an evident need to integrate space vehicle operations into the existing air traffic management system in a safe and efficient way. The German Aerospace Center has already conducted studies which cover the operational effects of space vehicle operations on air traffic and integration of the SpaceLiner return trajectory towards a European landing site. The next level of investigations include the horizontal launch of space vehicles in the segregated and congested European airspace, assessment of the effects expressed over closure of the affected airspaces and the potential delays induced by this type of operation. Thus, we present preliminary results of our analysis in this paper, including the methodology and modeling approach used to conduct this study

SpaceLiner Traffic Impact Analysis and Flight Simulation

A presentation of the latest results in SpaceLiner flight dynamics model development for X-Plane will be given, including the development of a vertical speed autopilot controller and simulation of realistic landing flare. Furthermore, first analysis results of the SpaceLiner Use Case for the estimation of its traffic impact during an approach towards a German spaceport will be presented

Effect Of Restricted Airspace On The ATM System

Recent weather-related events have provoked discussion on how to measure their impact on aviation industry. Many flights around the globe are facing such weather challenges on daily basis. Different meteorological conditions force flights to be delayed, re-routed or in many occasions even cancelled. Depending on the size of the areas affected by different meteorological conditions, the impact on the ATM can also vary. In this paper airspace as well as weather related information for selected days will be used in order to assess the system´s performance. Main data source will be Eurocontrol´s SO6 flight information data. The methodology for this performance study is as follows: In a first step evaluation methodology for the final assessment is defined. In this paper, the evaluation methodology focuses on parameters such as number of flights, sector capacities, controller workload and number of affected flights with either departure or arrival airport within the closed airspace. In the second step a baseline scenario representing the current ATM system is created in the fast-time simulation. We will use AirTOp (Air Traffic Optimization) in the context of this en-route simulation study. In order to compare the influence of weather-related airspace closures on the system´s overall performance, different simulation scenarios will be conducted. This means that according to weather information restricted/closed areas will be represented in this scenario. In this paper, we aim to assess the influence of restricted areas on the performance of the existing air traffic management by means of fast-time simulation