What to expect
Traditional ATM was designed for a relatively narrow band of manned commercial aircraft. The coming years will require ANSPs to manage a far broader spectrum of airspace users with vastly different operational profiles. This session examines the four major new entrant categories simultaneously reshaping the airspace:
- U-space — the maturation of regulatory frameworks into operational integration with manned airspace, and the coordination requirements as drone operations scale
- High-altitude operations (HAO) — stratospheric platforms including HAPS (High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellites) and the unique ATM challenges of very-long-endurance operations at the boundary of controlled airspace
- Supersonic aircraft — the return of commercial supersonic flight and what ATM changes are needed to accommodate 21st-century supersonic operations in existing airspace structures
- Space and aviation — the growing interface between commercial launch operations and civil aviation, including trajectory management, hazard area coordination, and the increasing cadence of space launches from sites in or near established flight information regions
Why it matters
ANSPs cannot address these new entrant categories sequentially — they are arriving simultaneously. This session examines the integration challenges, the common themes across different vehicle types, and the ATM architecture decisions that will determine whether new entrants can be safely and efficiently accommodated.