The DLR Launch Coordination Center: Developing services for an efficient airspace utilization for launch and re-entry operations in Europe

Kurzfassung

The commercialization of spaceflight has transformed launch and re-entry operations from infrequent to regular events. An increased demand, developing business opportunities in the NewSpace sector and geopolitical as well as economic considerations are leading to the development of new and the expansion of existing spaceports on the European continent. The necessary infrastructures for space launches and re-entries are thus created in Europe and corresponding systems are being made available. Those spaceports can be geographically close to highly frequented airspace, which is why the safe integration of spacecraft into the existing air traffic system is very important, but is not yet being worked on intensively. Specifically, when establishing commercial launch and re-entry operations on the European continent it will be essential to ensure a balance between the commercial interests of civil aviation and those of commercial space flight. In order to be able to guarantee a sustainable operational perspective even at the high launch frequencies that are economically required, this issue must be addressed and functions created that could be used to prepare, monitor and evaluate missions at any European spaceport. Tools and methods are already available in today's air traffic management to integrate individual launch events. However, these are not sufficient to ensure efficient airspace utilization even under the estimated and required launch frequencies. For this purpose, integration approaches are required that build in particular on dynamic airspace utilization and transfer and expand modern concepts such as Dynamic Mobile Areas (DMA) to the new requirements. This approach has also been envisioned in the new European Concept for Higher Airspace Operations developed by the SESAR ECHO project. An important prerequisite for the implementation of dynamic airspace utilization elements for the integration of spacecraft is the development and provision of real-time information services that can monitor the progress of launch and reentry operations and provide the necessary time-critical safety information to all required stakeholders, in particular the relevant air navigation service providers and the European Network Management. With the establishment of a Launch Coordination Center (LCC), the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is addressing this need. A service is being developed with which missions can be supported and monitored in real time from launch through the airspace until the handover to space traffic management (or vice versa for re-entry and landing). The LCC aims to support traffic integration as early as the planning phase and allow for an optimized airspace utilization, minimizing the impact on air traffic while considering space 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.