The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Task Force on Space Transport Operations (STO) has had its inaugural meeting at the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs as part of the 69th plenary session of COPUOS (Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space).
The Task Force’s objective is to promote the safe integration of space transportation operations and suborbital flights into the global airspace system, ensuring the highest levels of safety and minimising operational impacts on other users.
Following this first meeting, international guidelines will be developed within the next twelve months for air navigation service providers (ANSPs) and the stakeholders involved, with the aim of supporting the management of these new operations.
In his opening remarks, Giovanni Di Antonio, the director of technological innovation at Italian civil aviation authority ENAC, emphasised how the development of common guidelines represents an essential first step toward the coordinated integration of large-scale space transportation operations, especially given the sector’s global growth and the expected increase in demand for access to airspace and space.
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Image: ENAC