FAA: New tool limits disruptions caused by space operations

Federal regulators said Thursday they now can better track rocket launches and space vehicles returning to Earth, which could cut the amount of time that airplanes must be routed around space operations.

Are drones really dangerous to airplanes?

Imagine boarding a plane. Economy class. There's a kid behind you kicking the seat. You put on headphones and try to tune out the world. Immediately after takeoff, you feel a thud and hear an explosion over the sound of your ...

US proposes nearly $2 million fine against drone operator

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday proposed a record $1.9 million fine against an aerial photography company for flying drones in crowded New York and Chicago airspace without permission.

Schumer wants to keep drones way from airports, major events

Drone manufacturers would be forced to implement technology to keep the unmanned crafts away from airports and possibly events like parades and major sporting contests under a proposal Sen. Charles Schumer plans to introduce ...

Designing a way to keep increasingly crowded airspace safe

According to a recent report by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), airports across the country are seeing record passenger numbers. Along with that comes congestion at airport terminals and runways, causing delays ...

Warning Area in Arctic airspace to aid research and exploration

A 700-mile-long airspace that stretches north from Oliktok Point—the northernmost point of Alaska's Prudhoe Bay—to about 400 miles short of the North Pole has been put under the stewardship of Sandia National Laboratories ...

EU climate chief revives airline carbon tax proposal

The EU's top climate-change official said Wednesday that Brussels was within its rights to tax airlines for emissions in its airspace, reviving a controversial proposal that drew a storm of criticism.

page 1 from 3

Airspace

Airspace means the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere.

Airspace may be further subdivided into a variety of areas and zones, including those where there are either restrictions on flying activities or complete prohibition of flying activities.

By international law, the notion of a country's sovereign airspace corresponds with the maritime definition of territorial waters as being 12 nautical miles (22.2 km) out from a nation's coastline. Airspace not within any country's territorial limit is considered international, analogous to the "high seas" in maritime law. However, a country may, by international agreement, assume responsibility for controlling parts of international airspace, such as those over the oceans. For instance, the United States provides air traffic control services over a large part of the Pacific Ocean, even though the airspace is international.

There is no international agreement on the vertical extent of sovereign airspace (the boundary between outer space— which is not subject to national jurisdiction— and national airspace), with suggestions ranging from about 30 km (19 mi) (the extent of the highest aircraft and balloons) to about 160 km (99 mi) (the lowest extent of short-term stable orbits). The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale has established the Kármán line, at an altitude of 100 km (62 mi), as the boundary between the Earth's atmosphere and the outer space, while the United States considers anyone who has flown above 50 miles (80 km) to be an astronaut; indeed descending space shuttles have flown closer than 80 km (50 mi) over other nations, such as Canada, without requesting permission first. Nonetheless both the Kármán line and the U.S. definition are merely working benchmarks, without any real legal authority over matters of national sovereignty.

This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA