Suggested Searches

Artist concept of the Future Flight Central.
Graphic showing improved scheduling enables efficient spacing for aircraft to merge into air traffic.
Researchers Al Capps (seated) and Paul Borchers demonstrate Airspace Technology Demonstration 2 (ATD-2) tools that air traffic managers began testing in 2017.

Airspace Technology Demonstrations Project


Editor’s note: This project has concluded. This content is being kept online for historical purposes, but is no longer being updated.

Geared toward delivery of near-term benefits to air transportation system stakeholders, the Airspace Technology Demonstration project is a collection of critical technology development and demonstration activities.

Learn More About the ATD Project about Airspace Technology Demonstrations Project

Acting project manager

Shawn Engelland

Deputy project manager

Kevin Witzberger

NASA Delivers on Making Gate to Gate Flights More Efficient

In this story from March 2022, a summary of NASA's three-part Airspace Technology Demonstration (ATD) project is presented. It details how a team of NASA's aeronautical innovators working with government and industry partners spent fives years developing and demonstrating new tools to help you fly from here to there in the most time-efficient, fuel-saving, and cost-effective manner possible.

Read this Story About ATD
Researchers Al Capps (seated) and Paul Borchers demonstrate Airspace Technology Demonstration 2 (ATD-2) tools that air traffic managers began testing in 2017.
At NASA’s air traffic management laboratory near the Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport in Texas, researchers Al Capps (seated) and Paul Borchers demonstrate Airspace Technology Demonstration 2 (ATD-2) tools that air traffic managers began testing in 2017.
NASA / Jim Banke

Airspace Technology Demonstrations News

Read the stories that tell about NASA's work in Airspace Technology Demonstrations.

NASA Delivers on Making Gate to Gate Flights More Efficient
8 min read

For a team of NASA’s aeronautical innovators working with government and industry partners, the past five years or so were…

Article
NASA’s Aviation Tech to Roll Out to Airports, Save Time for Passengers
4 min read

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson visited Orlando International Airport in Florida Wednesday and met with aviation leaders to discuss implementing aircraft flight…

News Release
What is the Airspace Technology Demonstration 2?
7 min read

NASA technology helps air travelers get smoothly from gate to sky. After more than a year of pandemic-related travel restrictions,…

Article
NASA, Partner to Highlight Passenger-Friendly Aviation Technology
3 min read

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson will visit Orlando International Airport in Florida on Wednesday, Nov. 24 and meet with the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) CEO Phil Brown. They will discuss implementing NASA-developed flight…

News Release
NASA Transfers Air Traffic Management Tool Updates to FAA
3 min read

As part of an effort aimed at making aviation more sustainable, NASA has transferred findings from an air traffic management…

News Release
NASA, FAA Invite Media to Briefing on Air Traffic Control Updates
2 min read

NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will hold a virtual briefing for media Tuesday, Sept., 28 at 1 p.m.…

News Release
NASA Testing Saves Airlines One Million Gallons of Jet Fuel
2 min read

Results of an ongoing demonstration of NASA-developed air traffic scheduling technology at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport in North Carolina surpassed a…

Article
A Story for Axel: Big Ideas for Better Air Mobility with Drones of all Sizes
22 min read

In this essay from 2021 — which was originally presented as a three-part web feature — NASA Aeronautics’ senior writer…

Article
NASA and Federal Aviation Administration Sign Collaboration Agreements
5 min read

Nearly a century of collaboration between aeronautical innovators who now work for NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will…

Article
NASA Showcases Benefits of Air Traffic Management Tools
10 min read

Two years into a three-year demonstration of new technology for more efficiently scheduling takeoffs at a major airport, NASA researchers…

Article
NASA Presents FAA with New Air Traffic Management Technology
3 min read

NASA technology developed so aircraft arriving at busy airports can be managed more efficiently was officially transferred to the Federal…

Article
NASA and Alaska Airlines Test Software that Saves Time, Fuel
5 min read

NASA researchers are testing cockpit-based software that combines the power of integrated, real-time flight data with the touch-and-go ease of…

Article