AVIATION SAFETY

whitePaper | April 30, 2023

Space is central to this complexity. Not only does space underpin all instruments of our national power, but access to and freedom to maneuver in the domain are foundational to the United States’ status as a great power. This sixth edition of the Space Threat Assessment describes a domain undergoing a significant and rapid transformation. The number of objects in space continues to soar, the value of the global space economy is at an all-time high, and, unfortunately, the threat to the domain is real and concerning today. Over the past year and a half, there has been regular testing and use of reversible non-destructive capabilities as well as a destructive test that created a debris field, jeopardizing safe operations and indicating that the domain will continue to become more contested.

whitePaper | January 26, 2022

Aviation is a hard-to-decarbonize sector of the transport industry due to the stringent mass and volume requirements for aviation fuel. The high energy content of liquid jet fuel, both per unit mass (specific energy) and per unit volume (energy density), makes it difficult to replace. Significant emphasis has been placed on drop-in Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs) to reduce emissions without sacrificing aircraft performance. But SAFs emit carbon dioxide (CO2) when combusted (carbon capture during production reduces life-cycle emissions) and their uptake has fallen short of expectations due to their high cost, limited supply, and concerns about the land-use impacts of biofuels.

whitePaper | November 8, 2019

The use cases for Inflight Connectivity are manifold. Market research suggests that 90% of passengers would like to connect, but less than 10% do so, as fees are high, and performance is poor. In the cabin, online credit card verification would eliminate fraud, and qualified medical assistance from the ground would avoid unnecessary diversions. Flight crews could optimize their flight path based on real time weather updates. Aircraft systems could report the need for maintenance and trigger ground crews accordingly, so that ground times can be minimized, and resources be used most efficiently. The ever-increasing demand for Inflight Connectivity is driven by several factors: the continued growth of airline passenger traffic, which is expected to double by 2035; 5-10 times higher passenger take rates of cabin Wi-Fi services than today; the amount of data generated by modern aircraft systems, which has already surpassed 1 Terabyte per flight just for the engines; other aerial vehicles that require connectivity for mission accomplishment, for example, police and rescue helicopters; and finally manned and unmanned drones (eVTOLs), which are expected to proliferate in the next decade.

whitePaper | August 31, 2022

This report outlines a holistic view of pathways to a sustainable aviation ecosystem, focusing on low-net-carbon aircraft energy carriers (fuels), airport ecosystems (airports and bases), and developments in sustainable aircraft components (aircraft). Taking this holistic ecosystem perspective, we identify critical components that contribute to sustainable energy solutions necessary to achieve deep decarbonization of the aviation industry, as well as the integrated energy system interfaces that must be comprehensively understood, planned for, and realized. Further, we outline necessary R&D needs to achieve sustainability across the aviation ecosystem, including advancing breakthrough innovations to rapidly achieve scalable solutions, with attention to their cross-sectoral dependencies and implications.

whitePaper | January 31, 2022

What makes business aviation support so challenging is the need to continually stay on top of incoming data. Good decisions, smart planning and safe flying all depend on the continuous flow of accurate, real-time information from many different sources.

whitePaper | March 9, 2023

Brisbane families and communities are currently subject to severe aircraft noise pollution and suffering from associated health and related impacts from Brisbane Airport’s new flight paths launched in July 2020. Both the Aircraft Noise Ombudsman’s report and the Brisbane Airport PIR Advisory Forum (BAPAF) have independently confirmed that Brisbane communities were consciously misled using flawed noise modelling, deceptive and unprofessional community engagement, and are now being offered inadequate noise abatement.