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**Fact**Sheet

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

**Ames Research Center**

**Glenn Research Center**

**Langley Research Center** February 2003

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AIRSPACE SYSTEMS (AS)

**Developing concepts and systems for the future of air**

![](media/image2.jpeg){width="6.402777777777778in"
height="3.170138888888889in"}**transportation**

# Background

Today, as global dependence on air transportation increases, difficult
and important challenges are emerging. In a system nearing saturation,
delays and disruptions frequently occur. To relieve congestion and
improve operations, new aviation concepts and technologies are needed

NASA's Aerospace Technology Enterprise has stepped up to address this
national problem, applying its extensive expertise and experience in
aviation research and development. It has established a bold goal in
global civil aviation for the year 2022: to triple aviation system
capacity and cut doorstep-to destination travel time by half. The
centerpiece for achieving this goal is the Airspace Systems Program.

The objective of the Airspace Systems (AS) Program is to provide
advanced concepts and technologies to enable a pliant and cohesive
airspace system for the future that will operate with predictable
efficiency, insuring safety, security, and protection for the
environment. Working in concert with the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA), other government agencies, and industry, the AS Program will
achieve its objectives through four distinct project areas:

# The Advanced Air Transportation Technologies (AATT) Project 

AATT focuses on improving transport aircraft operations at and between
major airports in the National Airspace System (NAS). The project is
dedicated to enhancing the existing aviation infrastructure by defining,
exploring, and developing advanced air traffic management (ATM) system
concepts and tools suitable for pre-production prototype development by
the FAA and industry. These prototypes will lead to eventual full-scale
development and deployment in the field.

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AATT is responding to the demands placed upon our existing system by
developing decision support tools to assist air traffic controllers,
airline dispatchers, and pilots to improve gate-to-gate operations. New
flight deck and ground-based concepts are also being explored to support
Free Flight, thus providing increased freedom to aircraft operators. The
adaptation and integration of these tools into the NAS will address some
of our most difficult ATM concerns and challenges.

**Virtual Airspace Modeling and Simulation (VAMS) Project**

![](media/image4.pct){width="2.5694444444444446in"
height="1.6701388888888888in"}The VAMS Project is a multi-year airspace
research and development effort initiated by NASA in 2002. The VAMS
Project is the NASA response to the projected lack of sufficient future
capacity in the nation's air transportation system. Working in
cooperation with the FAA, other government agencies, and industry, NASA
is developing and exploring revolutionary changes in airspace operations
to answer this challenge.

The NAS is a highly complex, integrated system of systems. The new
vision for the air transportation system of the 21st century is still
evolving. With that vision will come the need to refine and test new
theories and processes. By creating a robust, high fidelity modeling and
simulation capability, the VAMS Project will examine and evaluate
advanced concepts for the future NAS. The product of these valuations
will describe a technology vision and its requirements for the next era
in aviation.

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**Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) Project**

The NASA SATS Project offers a revolutionary approach to relieving
congested interstate highways and busy hub-and-spoke airports. The SATS
project is investigating concepts and technologies for an on-demand,
point-to-point, widely distributed transportation system. This new
approach relies on advanced four- to ten-passenger aircraft using new
operating capabilities. Such a system promises improved safety,
efficiency, reliability, and affordability using small aircraft
operating from the nation\'s 5,400 public-use-landing facilities. About
98% of the U.S. population lives within 20 miles of at least one of
these airports.

The SATS five-year research plan will invest in four operating
capabilities: (1) high-volume operations at airports without control
towers or terminal radar facilities, (2) technologies enabling safe
landings in almost all weather conditions, (3) integration of SATS
aircraft into a higher capacity air traffic control system, and (4)
improved single-pilot ability to function competently in evolving,
complex airspace.

**Airspace Operations System (AOS) Project**

The AOS Project focuses upon the interaction of human operators with the
complex systems and procedures required for operations in the NAS. To
safely achieve significant increases in capacity and mobility within the
NAS, a new generation of highly automated, complex, air transportation
system tools and technologies is required.

The AOS Project aims to ensure, through sound design principles and
operational guidelines, that the new air transportation systems never
contribute to human error or needlessly increase pilot or operator
workload. The emphasis of this research is on collecting human factors
and performance data that focus on the cognitive, perceptual, and
physiological aspects of how people interact with displays and controls,
process information, make decisions, and collaborate with one another.
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