Supporting the safety and efficiency of airspace transition for launch and re-entry operations in Europe

Abstract

Due to increased demand and developing business opportunities, new potential spaceports on the European continent are being discussed and developed. It will be essential in the future to ensure a balance between the commercial interests of civil aviation and those of commercial space flight. With the establishment of a Launch Coordination Center (LCC), the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is working on the development of a service with which missions can be supported and monitored in real time from launch to handover to space traffic management (or vice versa for re-entry and landing). The LCC will support traffic integration as early as the planning phase and allow minimization of impact on air traffic while considering mission requirements. In doing so, efficient procedures for scheduling launch and re-entry activities will be provided. For post-mission analysis, mission parameters will be processed and evaluated in relation to the impact on the air traffic system.