For greater safety: closer integration of space and air traffic ESA awards contract to OKAPI:Orbits, TU Braunschweig and DLR
- Linking space and air traffic: harmonised interface between space traffic coordination and air traffic management systems planned
- Greater safety: the project will enable coordinated management of launches and re-entries, thereby reducing the risks for space and air traffic
The European Space Agency (ESA) has commissioned OKAPI:Orbits, in collaboration with the Institute of Space Systems at Technische Universität Braunschweig and the Institute of Flight Guidance at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), with a project aimed at closing the gap between space traffic management (STM) and air traffic management (ATM).
This new interface represents an important step, especially against the backdrop of rapidly increasing launch and re-entry activities. With increasing launch frequencies and growing object density in near-Earth orbits, aviation authorities must be able to predict and control space operations in a timely, reliable and standardised manner. This activity represents an important step towards integrated aerospace operations in Europe.
To achieve this, ESA, OKAPI:Orbits, TU Braunschweig and DLR are jointly addressing several key challenges in the integration of space and air traffic systems. These include defining realistic operational scenarios for launches and re-entries, developing methods for quantifying uncertainties, and creating tools that enable air traffic management to respond dynamically to space activities.
The interface will be designed to support both nominal (planned or controlled events) and non-nominal conditions, including controlled and uncontrolled re-entries of space objects. In addition, robust coordination across the various areas will be ensured.
Furthermore, the project will provide a software prototype and visualisation capabilities that translate the risks of space traffic into information for air traffic control services. These capabilities support near real-time decision-making and strengthen operational resilience.
Operational and regulatory context
The need for closer integration between space and air traffic systems has become increasingly apparent in recent years. An estimated 130 million debris fragments are currently in Earth orbit, while only about 40,000 objects are actively catalogued and tracked. With the expansion of satellite constellations and the increasing number of spacecraft re-entering the atmosphere, the potential risk to aviation safety is growing.
Although a recent incident initially suggested that space debris had caused damage to an aircraft, subsequent investigations revealed that the impact had been caused by a component of a high-altitude weather balloon. The attention this case received highlighted how closely space activities and aviation operations are linked and underscored the importance of viewing airspace and space as a coherent safety space.
Alignment with European and global policy
The project supports the European regulatory framework, which is constantly evolving. The proposed EU Space Law emphasises safety, sustainability and cross-sector coordination in space and explicitly recognises the downstream effects of space activities on aviation and safety on the ground.
At the international level, the work is consistent with the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space’s guidelines on long-term sustainability and with the cooperation between the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and the International Civil Aviation Organisation. These initiatives aim to reduce space debris, improve information sharing and integrate space operations into existing air safety frameworks.
This collaboration brings together complementary expertise: with decades of research into space systems and mission safety, Technische Universität Braunschweig contributes scientific expertise in the fields of orbital dynamics and risk modelling. The German Aerospace Centre contributes its leading role in air traffic management technologies and operational concepts and ensures compatibility with existing ATM frameworks. Finally, OKAPI:Orbits complements the consortium with its experience in space traffic management and space situational awareness, providing solutions that already help satellite operators plan safe and sustainable missions today.
About ESA
The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. ESA is an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1975 with the aim of shaping the development of European space capabilities and ensuring that investments in space benefit the citizens of Europe and the world.
ESA has 23 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia are associate members. ESA has established formal cooperation with four other EU Member States. Canada participates in some ESA programmes under a cooperation agreement.
By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, ESA can undertake programmes and activities that go far beyond the scope of any single European country. In particular, it cooperates with the EU on the implementation of the Galileo and Copernicus programmes and with Eumetsat on the development of meteorological missions.
For more information about ESA, visit www.esa.int.
About OKAPI:Orbits
OKAPI:Orbits provides comprehensive space traffic management (STM) solutions designed to ensure the safety and optimisation of space missions. Its AI-driven platforms provide advanced space situational awareness (SSA) and space traffic management (STM) capabilities, maximising safety in orbit, promoting sustainability in space and optimising satellite operations. OKAPI:Orbits offers end-to-end solutions, from launch to end of life.
About TU Braunschweig
TU Braunschweig is located in the heart of Europe’s most research-intensive region. In interdisciplinary and cross-faculty research centres, TU Braunschweig has been working on the topics of the future for years. TU Braunschweig focuses on four main areas of research: mobility, metrology, engineering for health and the city of the future. The TU’s space research cluster covers the topics of space physics, geophysics and space electronics, with a focus on scientific research on the solar system, microgravity research, space debris and the technology of instruments and probes.
About the DLR
The DLR is the German Research and Technology Centre for Aeronautics and Space. In its core areas, the DLR develops technologies for aerospace, energy and transport, as well as security and defence research. A wide range of results and innovations benefit industry and the economy, public authorities and administration, and public stakeholders. Through intensive knowledge exchange and targeted technology transfer, the DLR fulfils its responsibility to society. To this end, it is funded by the Federal Government. The German Space Agency within the DLR is responsible for planning and implementing German space activities on behalf of the Federal Government. Two DLR project management agencies work as management institutions for research and industrial promotion.
The DLR Institute of Flight Guidance focuses on air traffic management and operational concepts and deals with the integration of space operations and new flight technologies into controlled airspace.