Airspace Operations and Safety

This focus area includes technologies supporting the Airspace Operations and Safety Program (AOSP), which supports NASA's ARMD Strategic Thrusts 1, 5, and 6. AOSP performs research to develop revolutionary air traffic management and operational safety concepts for the transformation of the National Airspace System (NAS). These technologies benefit the public by increasing capacity, decreasing fuel consumption, and reducing the total cost of air transportation. The Airspace Operations and Safety SBIR Topic is focused on research and technology development for enabling a modernized air transportation system that will achieve much greater capacity and operational efficiency while maintaining or improving safety and other performance measures. This future air transportation system will include the integration of new types of vehicles such as unmanned vehicles, advanced subsonic aircraft, supersonic or commercial space vehicles; new types of emerging business models or operations such as urban air mobility/advanced air mobility and integrated aerial wildfire response; and new architectures or services for enabling these operations within the NAS.