The HAPS Alliance, an international association of cross-industry players working to enable a High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) ecosystem, has published a new white paper entitled HAPS Operation Using Attended Autonomous Fleet Systems, which is available for free to download.
Written by the HAPS Alliance Aviation Working Group, the white paper explains Collaborative Traffic Management for the Stratosphere (CTMS), informed by the principles of Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM), as an operational end-state that enables safe and scalable operations of HAPS vehicles operating at altitude as Attended Autonomous Fleet Systems.
Broad HAPS deployment is on the way, says the alliance. Not only does the HAPS Alliance white paper serve as a guide to support safety and regulatory discussions, it also sets out near- and longer-term steps toward achieving the Alliance’s vision of safe and effective autonomous aircraft operations. The HAPS market expected to reach USD4 billion in value by 2029, according to Northern Sky Research, and telecommunications, technology, aviation and aerospace companies, as well as public and educational institutions, can benefit from the paper’s information and insights to tap into market opportunity.
“We wrote our new white paper to better equip the industry with background knowledge on the use of CTMS for autonomous fleet systems. The paper discusses the current approaches to cooperative traffic management solutions, with a look at what’s needed to support the growing number of use cases,” said HAPS Alliance Aviation Working Group Chair Andy Thurling. “UTM principles, adapted to this airspace, will allow regulators and operators to test this approach in a low-density, lower-risk environment and adjust best practices quickly based on lessons learned.”
“Sooner than many people expect, fleets of HAPS-enabled unmanned aircraft will be serving diverse connectivity needs. Unlike individual aircraft, fleets of high-altitude vehicles will be required to cooperate and coordinate with each other to handle mobility tasks properly. The HAPS Alliance white paper highlights how a collaborative traffic management approach can enable fleets to leverage HAPS technologies to carry out a range of functionalities, from sensing to maneouvring,” said HAPS Alliance Officer and Treasurer Gregory Ewert.
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