Volume 9, Number 5 • September/October 2001 • Aerospace Technology Development

SATS Teams Selected

NASA has selected four teams to participate in the first phase of the new Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) research and development program. SATS is a five-year, $69-million proof-of-concept program managed by the NASA General Aviation Programs Office, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia.

Through shared public and private investments in the Advanced General Aviation Transportation Experiments (AGATE) project, and (in part) due to the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994, improvements are being made to small aircraft that make them easier to fly, safer to fly and more affordable to purchase and operate. New general aviation aircraft will use advanced technology control and display systems, data communications systems and navigation and weather systems. They will also have new landing systems that allow operation in nearly all weather conditions at non-radar, non-towered landing facilities.

Four teams will participate in the initial research and development phase. Each team is a partnership of industry, state government, nonprofit organization and academic institution.

The teams have signed cost-sharing agreements with NASA that provide a total investment of approximately $13 million for the first year of the program. The NASA portion of the investment is approximately $7.5 million. The four teams will work independently on portions of the total effort.

Each team has provided a brief description of their agreement with NASA. Those descriptions are included below.

Maryland SATS Lab Team

The Maryland Advanced Development Laboratory (MADL) of the University Research Foundation has formed the Maryland SATS Laboratory (SATS Lab) team.

The local synergy required to coordinate and execute the SATS initiative will be provided by state agencies and industries such as the Maryland Aviation Administration, Hinson Corporate Flight, Inc., ARINC Inc., Airpark Sales and Services, and the University of Maryland Labs. The Maryland team has partnered its local assets with leading corporations including Applied Science Technology (ASI), Cirrus Design, Decision Studies Inc. (DSI), Lancair Company, UPS Aviation Technologies and Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC).

The focus of the Maryland team will be to evolve existing flight-related procedures, integrate the team’s existing and developmental technology, and study the human factor requirements for both the experienced pilot and novice aircraft operator. The team’s ability to perform these tasks is aided by the use of multiple small civil aircraft already configured with developmental systems, recording and analysis equipment.

North Carolina—Upper Great Plains SATS Lab Team

The North Carolina—Upper Great Plains SATS Lab team partners state aviation authorities, small airports, industry, universities and other private and nonprofit organizations in an ambitious plan to implement a three-tier air transportation system in North Carolina by 2003.

Participating states include Kansas, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota. Industry partners include ARNIC, Cessna, Nav3D, Piedmont Hawthorne Aviation, Rannoch, Raytheon, Rockwell Collins, Seagull Technology, Telford Aviation, UPS Technologies and United Airlines. Private partners include Hoh Aeronautics and Human-Machine Solutions. Academic and nonprofit partners include the University of Kansas, University of Nebraska at Omaha, University of North Carolina’s Keenan Institute, North Carolina State University and the Research Triangle Institute. The NASA portion of the project over the next year is roughly $1.5 million, and the cost share from the partnership is approximately $1 million.

Seven small airports, located primarily in North Carolina, will participate in the initial demonstrations. The team will focus on the integration of technology advances in Ssynthetic Vvision, Highway in the Sky (HITS) and advanced flight controls. The premier demonstration will occur at Kitty Hawk at the Dare County Airport in celebration of the Centennial of Flight, December 2003.

Southeast SATS Lab Consortium (SESLC)

Southeast SATS Lab Consortium (SESLC), led by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, was officially incorporated in the state of Florida in September 2000. This represented the direct membership of the SESLC, including more than 40 aviation and technology companies, airframe manufacturers, aviation infrastructure providers, universities, airport managers and aviation authorities, pilots and professional associations across the nation. Through members like the Florida Space Grant Consortium, The National Safe Skies Alliance and the Florida Aviation Trades Association, the SESLC reaches more than 200 aviation-related organizations that are interested in changing the future of personal transportation. More than two dozen airports in the Southeastern United States are either SESLC members, or becoming members, and each has expressed interest in hosting SATS experiments and demonstrations. States represented in the membership include Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Oregon, Arkansas and Virginia. Other government organizations participating in the project include the FAA Southern Region, Florida Department of Transportation, FAA Orlando Airports District Office and Enterprise Florida.

The Southeast SATS Lab Team expects to receive $2.5 million from NASA. Another $2.5 million is expected from member industry and airport organizations. The funding will enable experiments and demonstrations in a network of airports throughout the Southeastern states.

Virginia SATS Lab

The Virginia SATS Lab Research Alliance, led by George Mason University, is expected to receive $2.5 million to conduct research and analysis that will lead to a state-based Small Aircraft Transportation System flight demonstration in 2005.

The alliance includes George Mason University, Virginia Tech, Ohio University, Virginia Department of Aviation, Arthur D. Little, Athena Technologies, Inc., Aurora Flight Sciences Corp., ARNAV, Inc., ARINC, Aviation Systems Engineering, Inc., Cirrus Aircraft, Colgan Air, Dulles Aviation, Rannoch, Inc., The Preston Group, Trios Associates, Inc. and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The Virginia project includes five airports and utilizes the statewide data link services funded by the Virginia Department of Aviation (VDOAV) and provided by ARNAV, Inc. The Alliance project hopes to prove that a single-pilot small aircraft can be safely sequenced and separated in Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) at higher volume airports without a terminal radar controller or a control tower with mixed aircraft equipage, can land in low-visibility weather conditions at minimally equipped airports and can accomplish autonomous operations while flying in uncontrolled airspace. Q

For more information, contact Keith Henry at Langley Research Center, 757/864-6120 or H.K.Henry@larc.nasa.gov Please mention you read about it in Innovation.

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