Satellite-based Air Traffic Management (ATM) Systems' Impact on CO2 Emissions

This paper outlines the role that satellite-based services currently play in the European Air Traffic Management (ATM) system, and describes the expected evolution of this role as per the vision for integrated Communications, Navigation and Surveillance (iCNS) put forward in the European ATM Master Plan Edition 2020. The focus of the paper is on the environmental benefits, including a quantification of the reduction in CO2 emissions that can be expected in the 2035 timeframe once the ATM concepts that are currently under Research and Development (R&D) in the SESAR Digital European Sky Programme are deployed. Close collaboration between European ATM and space stakeholders is required during the R&D and the deployment phases in order for these environmental benefits to be realised, including in particular collaboration between the SESAR programme and the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) and the European Space Agency (ESA).