NASA needs a few successes. Its aeronautics research is in decline and disarray; the Space Shuttle is again grounded and the Space Station out on a limb; and its Apollo-esque "back to the Moon" vision is being greeted by as much scepticism and derision as shock and awe.
NASA had a success earlier this year, but it took place at Danville in rural Virginia and not many people noticed. The success was the public demonstration of the Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) - touted as a new mode of public transportation using small aircraft, like very light jets, to provide regular air-taxi service between thousands of small non-tower airports across the USA.
The Danville event was lauded by the Federal Aviation Administration as the first demonstration of technologies key to its next-generation air transport system - but what has happened to SATS since then? The answer is not a lot. The five-year project has ended, the NCAM consortium of state, academic and industry partners that worked with NASA is being disbanded, and the concept is fast disappearing into the bureaucratic maze that is the FAA.
SATS grew out of another NASA success, the Advanced General Aviation Technology Experiments (AGATE) project, which developed the avionics that have since revolutionised GA aircraft - the integrated flightdecks now available in almost every Cessna, Cirrus, Diamond or Piper light aircraft. Will SATS have a similar impact? For now it looks unlikely. AGATE involved only the aircraft. SATS involves the aircraft, the airport and the airspace system.
Supporters of SATS want someone - possibly one of the regional SATSlabs formed by forward-minded state aviation officials to work on the project - to pick up the ball and run with it; to set up a SATS "model airport" and prove over an extended period of time that the concept is usable, reliable, profitable and safe.
With all the frustration over scheduled airline travel these days, and with all the interest generated by the new breed of very light jets and all the entrepreneurial energy and equity being spent on developing air-taxi business models - surely there is some community of like-minded aircraft makers, service providers and airport owners out there that is prepared to take this idea one crucial step forward?
But don't look to NASA. It's mind is on more distant things.
Technorati tag: NASA
As Mark Twain said that the reports of his death were greatly exaggerated, so too are the reports of lack of success of SATS as a concept. SATSair/Rhino Aviation is a fully functioning Part 135 company operating single engine piston airplanes with no restrictions on our certificate utilizing SR22s. Please check out SATSair/Rhino Aviation's results with 9 SR22s and growing in the SE and see www.SATSair.com.
A Small Airplane Transportation System (SATS) doesn't necessarily need all the technology demonstrated at Danville today to be providing an alternative mode of transportation until those other technologies come on line. A fully developed alternative mode of transportation probably will need many of those technologies however.
It also does not NEED a VLJ, but in time VLJs can be an excellent addition to the already developing SATS based on SR22s and their technology, especially including its whole airplane parachute. There is a gigantic market for this capability and both SR22s and the new VLJs will share in this market, based on SATSair's customers great response and comments.
In our case SATSair stands for "smart air travel solutions or services" and our customers think that's exactly what they are utilizing. We'd be glad to answer questions about why we believe the above comments to be SATS unfolding as a success. Contact Wendi Hill at 864-313-0220 or Steve Hanvey at 864-232-9566 or at the above email address.
Kieran Daly