Human Systems Integration Division @ NASA Ames

The Higher Airspace / Upper Class E Traffic Management (HA/ETM) team conducted its second Collaborative Evaluation with industry partners in NASA's Airspace Operations Lab (AOL) on July 29–30th. The evaluation aimed to advance collaborative traffic management in the higher airspace by testing system compatibility, real-time conflict negotiation, and data exchange among high-altitude operators. The high-altitude vehicle operators were Aerostar (stratospheric balloon) and Sceye (lighter-than-air high-altitude platform station); with AeroVironment (slow-speed, high-altitude, fixed-wing vehicle) also participating in discussion sessions. During three simulated flight scenarios, Aerostar and Sceye submitted operational intent and telemetry data remotely, while on-site operators visualized this information on the ETM Client. The partners explored how adjustments to volume size and duration affected conflict resolution and negotiated solutions in real-time.

Researchers and partners discussed key HA/ETM topics, including generating operational intent volumes, strategic conflict detection, vehicle maneuverability constraints, conflict negotiation strategies, and mission-specific considerations affecting conflict resolution. Feedback from these discussions will help develop cooperative operating practices for HA/ETM operations.

Representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Defense, and Air Traffic Control subject matter experts observed the simulations and contributed to the discussions.

The evaluation also enabled NASA to test its HA/ETM system’s ability to ingest, process, and display live flight data from an actively flying Aerostar balloon. This was a pioneering effort that demonstrated the technical feasibility of the HA/ETM concept.

Members of the AOL supported the planning and execution of this Collaborative Evaluation. This work is part of the National Airspace System (NAS) Exploratory Concepts and Technologies (NExCT) subproject, which aims to enable safe, efficient, and equitable Higher Airspace Operations (HAO). NExCT is a component of the Aviation Operations and Safety Program's (AOSP's) Air Traffic Management eXploration (ATM-X) project.