Following the last WATMC in Madrid, ATM Magazine had the opportunity to speak with Brian Bruckbauer, President & CEO of ATCA about the upcoming ATCA Global event the future goals for their program.
The ATCA Annual event has now become the ATCA Global event for this coming November. With only five months between the two events, I wondered what the probability was that this first event could really be ‘global’ from an attendee and exhibitor perspective. Likely this event will have a smaller global presence given the timeframe. There are some ANSPs from other regions already signed on and there will be an agreement signed with FABEC during the ATCA Global to work on some joint challenges and interests. ATCA is interested in partnering with ANSPs from other regions who are interested in better understanding the US market and hopes to facilitate such activities through this venue.
Other things that will be different this time around include an increased Department of Defense participation, presence of NASA and the US Space Force will transition to the Department of Commerce for space traffic management. I’m interested to see how this works in relation to the FAA not playing a role here. There will be partnerships to bring in other airspace integration topics such as the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) and the Commercial Space Flight Federation.
The event will have four theatres of programming:
- UAS integration – linked to the work AUVSI is doing
- Commercial space integration
- Innovation & Technology – the US Airforce Research Laboratory will share some of their advanced prototyping functionality
- Traditional ATM topics – with an increased focus on content for ATCOs through work with NATCA
You will also see topics that cross all four theatres, such as cybersecurity.
When asked about the future direction for ATCA, Brian referenced the meaning of his German last name when translated to English – bridge builder. And this is what he wants to be, “The person and the organisation that works with the industry, for the industry.”
