On the Implementation of a European Space Traffic Management System - III. Technical Requirements

Abstract

This third paper (Paper III) concludes the mini series of papers which presents results from an ESA-funded evaluation study that has been collected by DLR GfR and its partner institutes and companies. The objective of this study is 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 Paper I (Tüllmann et al. 2017a), we introduced the implementation approach by focussing on the commercial Space Travel market which is expected to develop into a multi-billion Euro business in the coming years and could become a major driver for STM in general. We provided proof of concept that this suborbital space travel is generally possible, given that significant advances in heat and collision shielding technologies can be achieved. The envisioned technical, conceptual and organisational setups were discussed regarding Space Debris, Space Surveillance & Tracking, Space Weather Monitoring, Flight Planning and Scheduling and ATM and STM integration. This work is supplemented by Paper II (Tüllmann et al. 2017b), which discussed Safety & Reliability (S&R) aspects that should be reflected in a S&R concept for the STM system. In this context relevant Safety Management Systems in aviation business were investigated to check to what extent their S&R concepts and good-practices are applicable to STM operations. A first Risk Classification Scheme was presented and initial values for the acceptable levels of safety for the identified hazards were presented and an outline of the envisaged Space Navigation Service Provider (SNSP) certification process was given. In this present work (Paper III) we focus on deriving initial technical high-level requirements and recommendations for a European contribution to Space Traffic Management and define relevant interfaces in the global context. The proposed requirements and interfaces presented here are neither complete nor final and are meant to provide a first rough guidance for space agencies, manufacturers or policy makers and shall stimulate discussions on how a European STM system could be realised.