The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) released a final report this week on emerging high altitude airspace requirements in preparation for future regulations on high-altitude operations. Developed with EUROCAE, the report updates an earlier analysis and examines expected activity above FL550, where the report said new vehicle concepts are moving toward greater sustained commercial readiness.

Rising Interest In High-Altitude Operations

The report points to rapid advances in several vehicle categories, including fixed-wing high-altitude platform systems (HAPS), stratospheric balloons, airships, suborbital vehicles and future supersonic or hypersonic aircraft. Many of these systems have progressed beyond research demonstrations, with early operational capability projected between

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