2025 Agenda

CANSO Complete Air Traffic System (CATS) published a vision for the seamless integration of all airspace users, highly-automated and digital aviation systems, and new operational management frameworks. Specifically for HAO, the CATS described the framework and “digital infrastructure” envisioned for supporting a globally harmonized, cross-border, integrated traffic management concept enabling safe, secure, efficient, and seamless integration.

This paper builds on and advances the CANSO CATS vision by presenting a roadmap for safely integrating automated High Altitude Platform System (HAPS) fleet operations into higher airspace and across national borders. The roadmap outlines a progressive approach, focusing on the safe testing, validation, and implementation of new digital Cooperative Separation concepts and new operational frameworks that are necessary to manage highly-automated fleet systems. A key element of this plan is a near-term international trial designed to promote harmonization between regions and provide early real-world validation.

The paper leverages the foundational work accomplished across government and industry over the past several years, including:
● Eurocontrol’s European CONOPs for Higher Airspace Operations (ECHO 1 and 2)
● FAA’s ETM CONOPs V1.0 and upcoming V2.0 version
● AIA’s 2022 “Collaborative Traffic Management for the Stratosphere”
● HAPS Alliance’s 2025 vision for “Cooperative, Seamless, and Global Digital Skies”
● Flight Safety Foundation’s 2025 paper “New Words For a New Era in Aviation”

We intend to detail the path toward the harmonization of collaborative traffic management concepts and associated flight rules, with particular focus on the mechanisms of a cross-border federated environment.

To achieve scale in Higher Airspace Operations (HAO), this paper details four critical, interlocking operational steps:

1. Path to Harmonize Key Concepts for Cooperative Traffic Management and Airspace Integration across regions. The roadmap will advance the global harmonization of key constructs and principles that enables the seamless integration across distinct air traffic management environments. In particular, it will advance the “Cooperative Zone” (CZ) construct introduced in the CATS vision. This mechanism supports dynamic airspace allocation and enables the deployment of a focused, limited-charging model for safety-critical services, aligning with the CATS goal for Integrated Airspace.

2. Establishing Cooperative Governance: The roadmap will define the necessary Cooperative Operating Principles and Practices (COPPs) and governance agreements required between stakeholders to address the ICAO-highlighted challenges of financial responsibility, liability, and international recognition of approvals. This framework is the regulatory foundation for a federated environment.

3. Architecting Resiliency, Security and Automation: We will propose the technical high-level requirements for a cross-border federated digital architecture, including discovery and synchronization protocols. This architecture will ensure the resiliency, integrity, security and sovereignty that are essential in a machine-centric digital ecosystem. The international trial will validate the safety of Attended Autonomous Fleet System Management, advancing the CATS goal of Improved Performance through Automation by demonstrating a secure, system supervision-based approach.

4. Defining the new roles and operational concepts: We will propose and validate the novel operational concepts and human roles which are necessary to support highly automated operations and airspace integration.

In delivering this comprehensive, actionable Roadmap, this paper provides the essential framework for ANSPs, regulators, and industry to accelerate the global acceptance and safe introduction of HAPS operations at scale, moving the CATS strategy from concept to validation.