Predicting significant growth in commercial space operations over the next decade, the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) is calling for detailed discussions between regulators and commercial aircraft operators to develop strategies for integrating all operations into the National Airspace System (NAS).
“Looking into the future, the vision for commercial space operations is that they become just another operator in the airspace,” ALPA — which represents 63,000 pilots at 35 airlines in Canada and the United States — said in its report, Safe Integration of Commercial Space Operations Into the U.S. National Airspace System and Beyond, issued in late October.1
The report reiterated ALPA’s belief, previously stated in a related 2018 report, that spacecraft design assurance standards and crew and operator certific…
