Bestimmung der Auswirkungen von Raketenstarts auf den Europäischen Luftverkehr

Abstract

The emerging market for commercial space travel is evolving to a greater challenge for air traffic controllers these days. The consequences of one rocket launch is still too cost-intensive for airlines, for example in terms of aircraft rerouting. With reference to that topic the present thesis is being presented as a collaborative work with the German Aerospace Center in Brunswick. The definition of objectives is the determination of the impact of rocket launches on European air traffic. Therefore, the following research issue is supposed to be investigated: How can the impact of rocket launches on European air traffic be mitigated? To solve this problem formulation an applicable methodology has to be developed to quantify the air traffic density in European airspace. Consequently, the methodology is utilized to analyse the air traffic density of determined regions for potential air craft hazard areas in order to specify the possible interaction of a rocket launch with the air traffic in that environment. As data sources the demand data repository (DDR2) provided by European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL) is being used. The tool Python has been proven to be suitable for the assigned task. The result of this work is that it is possible to reduce the impact of rocket launches on air traffic by either choosing a lowly frequented air traffic time or any weekend day, preferably Saturday, for a launch. Also, in some cases for air launches the variation of the geographical launch position can be feasible.