Flight Planning for HAPS ATM Integration

The technical feasibility of High-Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS) has been demonstrated in recent years by projects such as the Airbus Zephyr. Although many technical obstacles have been overcome, the matter of HAPS integration into the Air Traffic Management (ATM) system still needs thorough research. HAPS are characterized by high weather susceptibility, long transition times to and from operational altitudes in the lower stratosphere, and low airspeeds and climb rates. After analyzing relevant characteristics of HAPS operations, it surfaced that the lack of planning flexibility is one of the main challenges faced by HAPS ATM integration. Flight planning has been identified by the authors as a crucial step to enable safe and efficient integration of HAPS into the existing ATM system. This paper presents an initial proposal for a HAPS flight planning process based on findings by the OBeLiSk project, a consortium consisting of Leichtwerk AG, the Institute of Flight Guidance of the TU Braunschweig, Unisphere GmbH, German Weather Service and Deutsche Flugsicherung DFS.