Aeronautical Research & Technology Areas
A
Working Group consisting of NLR, QinetiQ and ONERA constructed the
ASTERA taxonomy for aeronautical R&T. This is a hierarchical taxonomy that builds upon existing European structuring efforts, such as the GARTEUR taxonomy and EUROCONTROL's ARDEP taxonomy.
The
ASTERA taxonomy has been defined, reviewed and agreed upon by a
considerable group of experts from different fields within the European aeronautics community. This has given the taxonomy
a strong foundation. Therefore EASN uses and if necessary modifies this taxonomy in order to approach a classification of university activities in the field of aeronautics.
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Scenarios analysis |
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| Definition: | Scenarios provide a means for raising the awareness of decision-makers towards the implications of plausible possible futures, Scenario-based planning tells a series of consistent stories about the future outcome of existing paradigms and trends. | | Sub-domains: | 1. Identification of drivers of change (technological, demographic, cultural, political).
2. Elaboration of basic trends (societal, cultural).
3. Key uncertainties - derivation, analysis.
4. Scenario generation.
5. Scenario analysis.
6. Drivers for future research - agenda setting and evaluation. |
Unconventional configurations and new aircraft concepts |
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| Definition: | Radically new concepts in aircraft design could provide step changes - in flexibility of cabin layout (allowing for more specific tailoring of cabin space for business or leisure purposes) and reductions in operating costs resulting from highly integrated airframes, avionics and engines. | | Sub-domains: | 1. Blended wing/body airliners.
2. Supersonic or hypersonic airliners.
3. Lighter-than-air (LTA) vehicles/airships - cargo transport, surveillance, communications, remote imaging.
4. Very large payload capacity aircraft - cargo transports, airliners, utilisation of Wing In Ground effect (WIG).
5. Fully automated aircraft - 24 hour a day operation.
6. Tilt-rotor and other vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) configurations.
7. Hybrid configurations.
8. Dedicated freight aircraft operations using separate infrastructures from passenger airliners - inter-modality issues.
9. Interface with airport ground systems. |
Breakthrough technologies |
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| Definition: | New air transport paradigms may evolve from speculative, exploratory research and concept studies. | | Sub-domains: | 1. New materials.
2. Advanced design technologies.
3. Alternative fuels.
4. Safety enabling technologies - remote control of aircraft, fully automated approach and landing.
5. Unmanned aircraft.
6. Free flight control regime.
7. Technology watching. |
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