Prof. Dr. Dirk Kügler and Sven Kaltenhäuser from German Aerospace Center (DLR), in cooperation with EUROCONTROL, explain the journey from coordination to scalable operations.
Europe’s ambitions in satellite launches are growing. New spaceports are emerging, commercial providers are gaining momentum, and sovereign access to space is becoming a strategic priority. As launch and re-entry activity increases, so does a critical operational challenge: how to safely and efficiently integrate space operations into one of the world’s most complex and capacity-constrained air traffic management (ATM) systems. The question is no longer whether Europe will expand its launch activities — but whether its airspace system is prepared to manage this sustainably.
From exceptional handling to structural integration
Historically, European launch activities were geographically concentrated in Kourou, French Guiana. Space operations could therefore be treated as exceptional events, managed through temporary segregated airspace, NOTAMs and pre-tactical coordination between launch providers and Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs). As long as launches remained rare, this approach worked.
Globally, however, launch frequency has more than tripled in the past decade. In 2024, more than 250 orbital launches were conducted worldwide, and in 2025 the number exceeded 300.
Europe is not yet at that scale, but several dozen launches per year could become reality within the next decade. A growing small-launcher ecosystem, supported by new and expanding spaceports, is driving this trend. Even with modest payloads, higher launch cadence across multiple sites could result in 40–60 launches annually, making space operations a recurring element of network planning.
Research conducted by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Flight Guidance and EUROCONTROL under the SESAR ECHO showed that repeated activation of large, long-duration danger areas would increasingly disrupt major traffic flows. As launch frequency rises, static protection concepts become inefficient. The challenge is not to reduce safety — separation between launch or re-entry operations and aviation must be maintained throughout all airspace — but to achieve it through more adaptive methods.
The EUROCONTROL Network Manager Space Desk
To address this, EUROCONTROL has established the Network Manager (NM) Space Desk within its Network Manager Operations Centre (NMOC). The Space Desk serves as the central operational interface between launch and re-entry operators, ANSPs, military authorities and other stakeholders. Its purpose is to integrate suborbital and orbital space transportation operations into routine European ATM processes in a structured and scalable manner.
Space Desk 1.0 builds on existing procedures to monitor launches and re-entries, coordinate airspace restrictions and support contingency management. However, increasing launch frequency requires a more dynamic approach.
Building on earlier research conducted by DLR in the SpaceTracks project, dynamic integration concepts were further developed and validated together with EUROCONTROL and additional European partners within the SESAR ECHO and ECHO-2 projects. These activities introduced a dedicated ATM service for network real-time monitoring and management of launch and re-entry missions, executed from the NMOC Space Desk. A key element is the Network Real-Time Mission Monitoring tool (N-RMM), developed by DLR and integrated into the Space Desk concept. Mission trajectories are incorporated into strategic and pre-tactical planning processes, and on the day of operation, telemetry data feeds into the monitoring tool, enabling real-time trajectory tracking and shared situational awareness among relevant actors.
The concept assumes that, with more than 200 operations per year by 2040, up to 600 airspace reservation activations annually could occur, which could potentially rise to more than 800 when reserve days and cancellations are considered. In this environment, ATM operations are expected to move away from large, static danger areas towards more dynamic “just-in-time” activation of airspace volumes while maintaining safe and efficient operations. In non-nominal situations, such as vehicle deviation or termination, the Space Desk — supported by N-RMM — can rapidly disseminate dynamic restricted areas to affected control centres. This enables safety buffers to be applied more precisely and released earlier when conditions permit.
Managing uncertainty and strengthening STM integration
Launch operations remain subject to unavoidable uncertainties — particularly due to weather, technical constraints and schedule changes. Up to 40% of missions are likely cancelled due to such factors. Dynamic procedures and real-time monitoring do not eliminate uncertainty, but they allow airspace to be managed more flexibly and proportionately. Integration also extends beyond vertical transit through airspace. Increasing space traffic places greater demands on Space Traffic Management (STM), requiring improved data quality, enhanced data sharing and coordinated procedures between launch operators, STM actors and ATM stakeholders.
Evolution, not disruption
The enhanced operational concept does not replace Europe’s ATM framework; it refines it. Safety through assured separation, network-wide coordination and cross-border harmonisation remain fundamental principles. What changes is the degree of digitalisation, real-time data integration and process maturity. EUROCONROL, DLR and their partners are proactively preparing Europe for a higher-cadence launch environment. Space operators are no longer exceptional airspace users; they are becoming recurring ones. Ensuring that their integration remains safe, efficient and proportionate is therefore a strategic necessity for Europe’s aviation and space ambitions.
