Airlines and missile launches compete for airspace as FAA manages demand

WASHINGTON. Space companies are launching more rockets than ever, intensifying competition for airspace just as travelers are returning to flying in droves and leaving the FAA in the middle to keep things moving.

The FAA has long been responsible for overseeing U.S. airspace, addressing disruptions to air travel due to weather, military events, or technical failures. Add to this the rapidly growing market for space launches, and the complex puzzle of making room in the sky becomes even more delicate.

Some of the agency’s strategies to meet growing demand include minimizing the time airspace is closed and expanding beyond popular tourist destinations like Florida to launch sites as far away as Alaska.

“Space is cheap now. Operators can fly into space, and now it’s not just governments, but private companies as well — it’s a huge paradigm shift,” said Duane Freer, manager of the FAA’s Space Operations Division.

“We have made significant strides in reducing impact and better managing airspace for launch and re-entry,” Freer told CNBC. “Not so long ago, SpaceX was a new company, and these were all conditional ideas.”

The FAA managed U.S. airspace for a record 92 space missions in 2022, up 33% from a year earlier, and expects to exceed that figure this year. This number includes both rocket launches and capsule re-entries, and is steadily rising.

Most of last year’s missions were launched from Florida, putting a strain on airspace in the state, which is already facing a unique air traffic control challenge: The Sunshine State has attracted more and more travelers in recent years and is facing frequent thunderstorms several months of the year.

Last year, airlines operated 722,180 flights to and from Florida, indicating a faster recovery in pre-pandemic flight levels in the state than the national average. Miami International Airport announced that 2022 will be record year for passengers.

This volume of air traffic means that a rocket launch, even a routine and planned one, can be a major problem for passenger airlines. The disruption to airspace outside of Florida is impacting routes over the Atlantic, Freer said, calling the flights “really big and heavy hits.”

This could change the tug-of-war of airspace priority in favor of airlines: on one occasion, Freer recalled, his office coaxed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration when the space agency was considering attempting to launch its Artemis I lunar mission in the days immediately before and after Day Thanksgiving.

“We worked very closely with NASA to mitigate these impacts and actually eliminate these launch opportunities because the impact on aviation would be too great,” Freer said.

And the need to balance the influx of space flights with the needs of airlines continues unabated. Even if the airspace is closed for a short time, travel delays could last much longer as the impact spreads to overburdened airports and day-to-day crews.

The FAA has spent the past five years introducing new tools and upgrading systems for its teams and controllers. He met with airlines last year to discuss congestion mitigation initiatives in Florida, and his Space Co-Decision Committee, which works to integrate space operations into the nation’s airspace system, will meet with airline executives at Southwest Airlines’ at headquarters next month, the FAA said.

Most of last year’s space missions were carried out by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which in 2022 set a new annual record for launching a company of 61 people. run every four days.

FAA is also increasingly licensing launches in more geographic areas. In 2022, the agency licensed 50 space launches from Florida, 13 from California, nine from New Zealand, four from Texas, two from Virginia and one from Alaska.

Among a number of variables, there are two significant time constraints that the FAA has to contend with when it comes to missile launches: windows and cleaning.

Both may be rocket jargon, but they reflect considerations that are just as important as the launch itself. The launch window refers to the period of time, often several hours long, during which a rocket must leave the ground in order to reach its intended destination in space. A scrub is a delayed countdown and often results in a delay of a day or more.

Together they create a moving target for space launches and commercial airlines eyeing the same airspace.

Over the past five years, the FAA has made eight major efforts to improve the effectiveness of closing airspace around launches. Systems have been put in place to help divert as few aircraft as possible—only those flying the missile’s planned flight path—to reduce the amount of time airspace closes at either end of the window and highlight key mission triggers such as when rocket fuel is loaded, to better know when to close and open airspace.

Short of a successful launch, scrubs can be just as devastating to air traffic. The rocket countdown can be delayed or canceled until the very last moment.

In 2022, the FAA counted 61 emergency launches, which it defines as a launch that was canceled within 24 hours of its intended launch time. But overall, according to the FAA, launch timeliness improved in 2022 by 76% compared to 62% three years earlier.

Two years ago, the FAA introduced one of its most useful tools: the Space Data Integrator. It monitors the missile in near real time using data exchanged by the launch operator and keeps the FAA informed about the status of the missile in real time.

SDI “was a big step forward for us,” Freer said, noting that in the event of a missile failure, his teams could hit the malfunction button and instantly create a debris zone to keep planes out.

“Now we have [rocket’s] standing on the same piece of glass with our aircraft … this is a significant step forward for air traffic and it really points us towards a future where we really integrate,” Freer said.

SpaceX is currently participating in the FAA’s SDI to mitigate disruptions, and Freer emphasized that “many new carriers are working on this process.” Blue Origin and Firefly are part of the onboarding process and will likely join the program next, he said.