Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS)

NASA is working with the FAA and state and local aviation authorities to develop technologies to extend air service to public-use airports using four- to 10-passenger aircraft. The goal is to provide on-demand, point-to-point air transportation that is safe, efficient, reliable, and affordable. A successful proof-of-concept demonstration of the SATS system using new cutting-edge technologies for small aircraft and airports was conducted in the summer of 2005.

Aviation Safety and Security Program

This NASA program was created to make flying safer and to reduce its vulnerability to criminal and terrorist attacks. It focuses on aircraft self-protection and preservation, hostile act intervention and protection, human error avoidance, environmental hazards awareness and mitigation, and air traffic system vulnerability discovery and management.

Advanced Air Transportation Technologies (AATT)

The challenges of managing ever-increasing levels of air traffic are a major barrier to the growth of aviation. That’s why NASA developed technology through AATT that will enable major improvements in the productivity of air transportation operations. Since this project was completed in 2004, other programs have been developed that use the technology to improve traffic flow management; to increase capacity, efficiency, and flexibility of the National Airspace System; and to research ways to decrease human error and optimize how pilots, air traffic controllers, dispatchers, and others work with one another and machines.

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)

This program was established by Congress to provide increased opportunities for small businesses to participate in research and development, to increase employment, and to improve the competitiveness of the United States. Many General Aviation (GA) companies have taken advantage of this program to improve flying safety and reliability.

Aviation Weather Information (AWIN)

Because weather is among the top factors in aviation accidents and air traffic delays, the goal of AWIN is to provide improved weather information (not simply data) and to foster improved use of this information.

Personal Air Vehicles: The Second Century of Flight

As defined by NASA, Personal Air Vehicles (PAVs) are a new generation of small aircraft that can extend personal air travel to a much larger segment of the American population. As a solution to America’s future mobility needs, NASA aeronautics developed the PAV concept to provide a more distributed and less centralized system of air travel. Future short takeoff and landing (STOL) PAVs will be able to transport people to within just a few miles of their doorstep destination with overall travel times that are only one third to one quarter the time now required by the airlines or cars. NASA predicts that up to 45% of all miles traveled in the future may be in PAVs. This will relieve congestion at metropolitan hub airports and the freeways that surround them, reduce the need to build new highways, and save much of the 6.8 billion gallons of fuel wasted in automotive roadway gridlock every year.

Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency Foundation (CAFE)

For over 25 years the non-profit educational Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency Foundation has been carefully measuring personal aircraft performance. Key to their success has been the development and application of new methods and instrumentation used in flight testing. CAFE evolved into an independent flight test agency supported by grants from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), Boeing, and the FAA. CAFE’s work has gone beyond the simple measurement of speed and aircraft fuel efficiency by expanding into innovative research in engines, propulsion, and aerodynamics.

General Aviation Technology Challenge

To stimulate rapid innovation and progress in PAV performance, NASA Centennial Challenges has funded multimillion dollar cash prizes for annual flight competitions to help inspire the continued advancement of General Aviation and its role in sustainable mobility. These flight challenges are modeled after the “X Prize” and will be held annually at the CAFE Foundation’s flight test center in Windsor, California.

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