Addressing the Challenges to Aviation From Evolving Space Transportation

Technological advances and increases in demand are enabling the rapid growth of the commercial space transportation industry. The expanding market along with new types of space operations, such as space tourism will increase the frequency of launches. This potentially creates challenges to integrate commercial space operations with traditional aviation airspace users. The future growth and success of the commercial space and commercial aviation industries depends on the continued safe, dependable, and efficient access to airspace, which is a shared public resource. As spaceflight becomes more frequent, both sectors must collaborate to recommend policies, regulations, and procedures that can be used by the Federal Aviation Administration and other government agencies in order to manage resources. This paper provides a comparison of the development of each sector, as well as an airline pilot perspective of the challenges and concerns that the expanding commercial space industry poses to commercial aviation. It identifies key stakeholders, investigates areas for potential collaboration, and recommends immediate steps necessary to provide for the continued safe operations of airplanes and spacecraft, with a focus on prioritizing the safety of the flying public and flight crews