A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/843966
Associate Director of Communications, Art & Design Laura Roose: lroose@natcadc.org ; 202 - 220 - 9814 Communications Specialist Sarah Zilonis : szilonis@natcadc.org ; 202 - 266 - 9844. Multimedia Specialist Chris Ray : cray@natcadc.org ; 202 - 266 - 9875 Senior Social Media Associate Meagan Roper : mroper@natcadc.org ; 202 - 220 - 9813 WEEKLY UPDATE FROM FAA ATO COO TERI BRISTOL Space Traffic on the Rise I recently returned from CANSO's Annual General Meeting and Global ATM Summit, where I participated in a panel on commercial space users of airspace. The panel, moderated by the FAA's own Dr. George Nield, Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Trans portation, explored commercial space operations from both an industry perspective and that of ANSPs and regulators. The panelists ranged from SpaceX, the Sierra Nevada Corporation, and Virgin Galactic…to FAA's Air Traffic Organization, EUROCONTROL, and Ind ia's and Italy's civil aviation authorities, among others. It was a great opportunity to learn more about the diverse landscape of business, operating, and regulatory models in which the FAA and the ATO exist, but moreover, I was proud to represent an o rganization that many consider to be forward - thinking in regards to integrating commercial space users into the national airspace. As many of you know, the United States is currently experiencing unprecedented commercial space launch activity, the rate o f which will surely continue. Today and on Sunday, Space - X has scheduled launches on both coasts. Companies are planning trips around the moon next year and Mars missions within the next decade, using various types of new manned and unmanned space vehicles . In terms of the technology, traditional vertical launches will continue, but we've also begun to see variations on that model, including controlled flybacks of booster rockets on land or on floating barges, and operations where a space vehicle is laun ched horizontally from a carrier plane at altitude or from a runway. Smaller rockets that can launch mini - or micro - satellites, rocket launches by colleges and universities, and the development of spaceports throughout the US are all part of the aviation i ndustry's new reality. This is all movement in the right direction of course, but with this increase in the number and frequency of operations comes the need for our organization to integrate space traffic with traditional air traffic in ways that don't compromise our unparalleled standards for safety and efficiency. We need to enable this industry to thrive in a larger air traffic system.