A Cost-Equity Tradeoff for Space Launch Airspace Allocation

Launch activity is increasing in the U.S. and this increases the frequency of times each year that airspace needs to be integrated, or shared among space and air traffic operators. In order to protect air traffic and the public from possible launch failures or malfunctions, restricted airspace called Special Use Airspace is used for launches. An analysis of Special Use Airspaces shows that typically, as the size and activation period of Special Use Airspaces increases, the number of rerouted aircraft increases, which increases the overall air traffic rerouting cost. However, shorter Special Use Airspaces, which may limit rerouting costs, may also limit the ability for launch providers to avoid launch scrubs due to unforeseen launch contingencies. Thus, from the perspective of airspace allocation, there is a tradeoff between the cost of rerouting aircraft and the potential cost of delaying a launch. The results from analyzing this tradeoff show that there may be opportunities to reduce the impact of space launches on air traffic in the future by changing the timing and length of Special Use Airspaces for future space launch operations, and that these opportunities may result from equitably balancing the cost of rerouting aircraft with potential launch provider delay costs.