On the Implementation of a European Space Traffic Management System - I. A White Paper

Abstract

There are high expectations for a global commercial space travel market which is expected to turn into a multi-billion Euro business in the next two decades. Several key players in the space business, companies like Virgin Galactic, SpaceX, Blue Origin or SNC are preparing to serve this market by developing their own ballistic reusable space vehicles to carry humans and cargo payloads into suborbital and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) space. Europe’s single stage to orbit concepts, e.g., REL’s Skylon or Airbus’ Spaceplane, go even further and target for manned suborbital point-to-point (p2p) transportation, similar to today’s travel through airspace, but with much shorter flight times. All these developments will likely stimulate demands for new infrastructure (e.g., for spaceports, tracking & surveillance networks or control centres), requiring the implementation of adequate Space Traffic Management (STM) systems, proper Safety, Reliability and Operations Concepts and a seamless integration of space vehicles into the daily air traffic flow. Despite some initial efforts, management of and access to commercial aerospace is lacking a coordinated approach in Europe and compared to the U.S., Europe is by no means prepared to serve the developing space travel market in the near future. Without a consolidated European, yet global, commitment to commercial STM, the growing number of space vehicles expected to pass through aerospace in the coming years is going to jeopardise human health and airspace safety. In this White Paper (Paper I) we summarise key results from an evaluation study conducted by DLR GfR and partners on behalf of ESA with the objective to generate a roadmap for the implementation of a European STM system within the next two decades under consideration of an evolving Air Traffic Management (ATM) system. In order to demonstrate that collision risks do not prevent suborbital space flights right from the start, we provide proof of concept that this kind of travel is generally feasible, given that significant advances in heat and collision shielding technologies are made. We discuss the envisioned technical, conceptual and organisational setups in response to Europe’s STM needs, focussing on technology and infrastructure development, Space Debris, Space Surveillance & Tracking, Space Weather Monitoring and ATM and STM integration. For the STM system to be operational in the 2030 – 2035 time frame, the initial roadmap is presented together with the Top 10 list of STM issues that need to be tackled. In Paper II (Tüllmann et al. 2017b), we discuss Safety & Reliability aspects related to STM and propose a first risk quantification scheme together with initial values for the acceptable levels of safety of the identified hazards and risks. This mini series of papers is concluded by Paper III (Tüllmann et al. 2017c) in which we provide initial system requirements, constraints and recommendations that should be considered for a European STM setup.