Chapter 9 – Research: Enable Breakthrough Aerospace Capabilities · 9-5 FINAL REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON THE FUTURE OF THE UNITED STATES AEROSPACE INDUSTRY Chapter 9 – Research:

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FINAL REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON THEFUTURE OF THE UNITED STATES AEROSPACE INDUSTRY

Chapter 9 – Research: Enable Breakthrough Aerospace Capabilities

Aerospace is a technology-driven industry. Long-term research and innovation are the fuel for tech-nology. U.S. aerospace leadership is a direct result ofour preeminence in research and innovation.

Think of what we have achieved since the Wrightbrothers first flew. Aerospace technology has trans-formed the way we live, work and play. Today, weroutinely travel thousands of miles by air in a matterof hours; mail and cargo can be delivered almost any-where in the world overnight; people can communi-cate with others around the world instantaneously;and air and space systems play an integral role in ournational security and homeland defense. Satellitesmonitor the health of the planet and its atmosphere

and provide global information about the weather;robotic spacecraft visit the planets; space tele-scopes look back at the origins of the solar system;and the International Space Station orbits the Earth as the first permanent international habitat inspace.

The U.S. aerospace sector has achieved many firstsover the last century, but it could have done evenmore. Man walked on the moon 30 years ago, but wehave failed to return. We built the SR-71 “Blackbird”aircraft, and 30 years later it still holds the speedrecord. Aerospace infrastructure built decades ago isstill the mainstay of our capability. If our next 100years are to be as exciting as the last, we must con-tinue to sustain the U.S. research capability to pro-duce new breakthroughs in technology.

Government policies and investments in long-termresearch are essential if the United States is going to maintain its global aerospace technology leader-ship. Long-term research enables breakthroughs innew capabilities and concepts and provides newknowledge and understanding, often resulting in

Chapter 9

Research: Enable BreakthroughAerospace Capabilities

RECOMMENDATION #9: The Commission recom-

mends that the federal government significantly increase

its investment in basic aerospace research, which

enhances U.S. national security, enables breakthrough

capabilities, and fosters an efficient, secure and safe

aerospace transportation system. The U.S. aerospace

industry should take a leading role in applying research

to product development.

RESEARCH: Scientific investigation aimed at

discovering and applying new facts, tech-

niques and natural laws.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary ofScientific and Technical Terms

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Aerospace Commission

unexpected applications in other industries, and inthe creation of new markets. Research is an indis-pensable part of the U.S. innovation engine for gen-erating new ideas and knowledge and for acceleratingtheir transformation into new products, processesand services. But, government and private invest-ments in long-term research have not kept pace withthe nation’s technological needs.

Industry has the responsibility for leveraging govern-ment and university research and for transforming itinto new products and services, quickly and afford-ably. But, the U.S. aerospace industry has notinvested sufficiently to transition research into mar-ketable products and services.

Academia has the responsibility for educating thenation’s scientists and engineers and for partneringwith government and industry on long-term, high-risk research. But, they are dependent on govern-ment and industry investments.

Objective: U.S. Preeminence in Researchand InnovationU.S. preeminence in research and innovation willprovide revolutionary aerospace capabilities in the21st century—safe, secure, fast, clean, quiet.

Imagine a future in which:

• You can travel wherever and whenever you wanton Earth or in space;

• You will be able to get from your doorstep to yourdestination on time and without delay;

• You will be able to have customized products deliv-ered to you where and when you need them;

• You will know the weather accurately days inadvance;

• Rogue nations and terrorists will no longerthreaten the free world because their actions aremonitored continuously and, if necessary, areresponded to instantaneously wherever they are,day or night;

• We will have not only answered fundamental questions about our universe but also will

have explored new worlds and reaped their untoldtreasures;

• You have clean and quiet aerospace vehicles; and

• Our nation’s “best and brightest” seek out theexcitement provided by careers in aerospace.

All of these are possible if the nation invests in thefuture.

IssuesOver the last several decades, the U.S. aerospace sec-tor has been living off the research investments madeprimarily for defense during the Cold War, whichenabled intercontinental ballistic missiles, the Saturn V, SR-71, space-based reconnaissance, missiledefense systems, global positioning systems, stealth,and unmanned aerial vehicles. In the past, the aero-space sector led the technology revolution primarilybecause of large public investments in researchdirected at national security imperatives and goals.

Today, we have no integrated national aerospace con-sensus to guide policies and programs. This hasresulted in unfocused government and industryinvestments spread over a broad range of long-rangeresearch programs and associated aging infrastruc-ture. Meanwhile, foreign governments realize theimportance of public investments in research andinfrastructure. As a result, they are defining their

ISSUES

• Public Funding For Long-Term Research and Infrastructure

– Long-Term Research

– Infrastructure

• National Technology Demonstration Goals

• Transition of Government Research to Aerospace Sector

– Information Transfer

– Public-Private Partnerships

– Product Development Process

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priorities and increasing their investments.1 TheEuropean Union, for example, has made increasedfunding of civil aeronautics research a priority in itsopenly stated drive for world leadership in the aero-space industry. Asia, likewise, has targeted aerospaceas a strategic industry and increased governmentresearch and development (R&D) investments in itsnational manufacturers.

The war on terrorism has created a new nationalimperative that demands we make aerospace a national priority again and focus our resources on developing new products and processes as fast as possible. Because of the unique capabilities it canprovide, aerospace can help us win the war on ter-rorism while simultaneously strengthening our econ-omy. This can only be done if we unleash the aero-space sector’s full potential.

Public Funding for Long-Term Research andInfrastructure: Insufficient and Unfocused Many in government and on Wall Street view theaerospace sector as “mature.” They view governmentinvestments in research as “corporate welfare” andnot as an opportunity to make major breakthroughsin aerospace capabilities that could open new markets and usher in a new era of U.S. global aero-space leadership. The lack of sufficient and sustainedpublic funding for research and associated research,development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) infra-structure limits the nation’s ability to address criticalnational challenges and to enable breakthrough aerospace capabilities.

Long-Term Research. Most of our aerospace capa-bilities today are the result of breakthrough tech-nologies developed in the 1940-1960s for militaryapplications, including the jet engine, radar, spacelaunch, and satellites. In many cases, these capabili-ties gradually migrated into civil and commercialapplications in the 1960s through the 1990s. Thisincludes commercial jet aircraft, the air traffic con-trol system, telecommunications, and space-basedcommercial remote sensing.

Countless breakthrough capabilities are possible overthe next 100 years. But, they will only be of militaryand economic benefit, if the United States maintainsits preeminence in conducting long-term basicresearch that delivers revolutionary, breakthroughaerospace capabilities to market faster than its inter-national competition. Aerospace research that willenable these breakthrough capabilities include:

Information Technology. The information revolutionwill ultimately be as important to transportation asthe invention of the automobile and the jet engine.2

High performance computers will enable us tomodel and simulate new aerospace vehicle designs,prototype them and field them quickly. High confi-dence systems and high-bandwidth communica-tions, including lasers, will ensure that communication links between space, air and groundelements are secure from cyber attack. Large-scalenetworks will enable the development of system-of-systems solutions for defending America, projectingpower globally, and moving aircraft around theworld when and where needed.

“But it is not really necessary to look too far into the

future; we see enough already to be certain that it

will be magnificent. Only let us hurry and open the

roads.”

Wilbur WrightSpeaking to the Aero-Club de France

November 5, 1908

LONG-TERM AEROSPACE RESEARCH

• Information Technology

• Propulsion and Power

• Noise and Emissions

• Breakthrough Energy Sources

• Human Factors

• Nanotechnology

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Advanced engineering tools will make software morereliable, robust and fault tolerant. Micro- and nano-computers and sensors will revolutionize flight sys-tems, enabling them to acquire, process, and auto-matically fly aerospace vehicles. New integrated air,space and ground networks will enable us to acquirelarge volumes of data, process that data and then make it available to decision makers anywherein the world, in near-real time. Computer and network technologies will revolutionize the work-place, increasing individual and organizational productivity.

Propulsion and Power. Advances in aerospace propul-sion and power have been foundational in achievingnearly every significant breakthrough in aerospacecapability over the past century. The piston engineenabled the Wright brothers to inaugurate the age ofpowered flight. Development of the turbine engineushered in the jet age. Rocket propulsion opened our access to space. And nuclear generated electricpower made possible our initial exploration of thesolar system.

In the next century, advances in propulsion andpower will remain the critical enabling technology to

revolutionary aerospace capabilities. These advanceswill come in four flight regimes: subsonic and super-sonic flight (gas turbine/pulse detonation engines),hypersonic flight (ramjets/scramjets), access-to-space(rocket/combined cycle systems), and travel throughspace (nuclear, plasma, and anti-matter propulsionand power).

• Subsonic and Supersonic Flight. Advanced air-breathing propulsion systems will enable a newgeneration of quiet, clean, affordable, and highlycapable military and civil aircraft. Since the 1950s,aggressive gas turbine engine technology effortshave increased production engine performance bya factor of three and improved fuel efficiency by 70 percent. Further substantial improvements inthe capability and cost of hydrocarbon-fueled tur-bine engines are being actively pursued under thenewly formed Versatile, Affordable, AdvancedTurbine Engines (VAATE) Program, whichfocuses Department of Defense (DoD), NationalAeronautics and Space Administration (NASA),and industry investments on a common set ofnational goals.

• Hypersonic Flight. Ramjet/scramjet technologyoffers the potential for new classes of aircraft andweapons that can provide the military with globalreach and time critical strike capabilities. In addi-tion, dual-use benefits can be derived within thecivil aviation sector, permitting significantlyreduced transit times around the world. U.S.

Advances in propulsion will remain the critical enablingtechnology to revolutionary aerospace capabilities. Anti-matter propulsion holds promise as a means of enablingfaster travel through space.

Artist concept of a hypersonic missile.

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ramjet/scramjet technology efforts over the pastdecade have been limited and unfocused. Anaggressive and sustained investment is needed inthis arena, with the objective of overcoming thecritical technical barriers of high-speed flight andproviding the demonstrations necessary to validatethe operational feasibility of hypersonic systems.The Commission supports the joint DoD andNASA National Aerospace Initiative objective ofachieving Mach 12 capability by 2012. This initia-tive should begin as soon as possible.

• Access-to-Space. Affordability will be key to seam-less, on-demand space access, as well as the futuresuccessful commercialization of space. New fami-lies of rocket-based and air-breathing propulsiontechnologies are needed to support development ofthe reusable and expendable launch vehicle con-cepts that can provide order-of-magnitude reduc-tions in payload-to-orbit cost. Single- and two-stage-to-orbit configurations offer the potential forairline-like operations not achievable with currentlaunch systems.

• Travel Through Space. The lengthy transit timesthat result from the use of currently availablepropulsion systems make human exploration ofour solar system difficult, if not infeasible. Whilepropulsion concepts, such as ion and plasma, andpower sources, such as nuclear, offer the potentialof cutting transit times for space exploration by half or more—they are unable to significantlyreduce the duration of deep-space missions. Newpropulsion concepts based on breakthroughenergy sources, such as anti-matter energy systems,could result in a new propulsion paradigm thatwill revolutionize space transportation. See Figure9-1.

Noise and Emissions. Quiet and clean aircraft offer the potential to greatly expand the capacity ofthe national airspace system—making airportssought-after centers of economic activity. With the advent of the high-bypass turbofan engine, aircraftpropulsion systems noise and emissions have beengreatly reduced. Advanced vehicle concepts—such asblended-wing-body, strutbrace-wing, and noise can-cellation technologies—could produce furtherreductions. Research investments are needed to fur-ther mitigate jet noise, sonic boom, and emissions.Near zero-emissions aircraft may someday be possi-ble through the introduction of breakthrough energysources, such as hydrogen.

Breakthrough Energy Sources. In the 20th century,hydrocarbon-based fuels served as the predominantenergy sources for aerospace applications. In the 21stcentury, new energy sources must be developed inorder to achieve revolutionary new air and spacecapabilities.

THE NATIONAL AEROSPACE INITIATIVE

• High-Speed/Hypersonics

• Space Access

• Space Technology

Chemical Nuclear /

Plasma

Antimatter

30

10

0

40

20

Wee

ks

Figure 9-1 Transit Time From Earth to Mars

THE COMING HYDROGEN ECONOMY:

Hydrogen may be the next breakthrough energy source for air-craft. Hydrogen-fueled engines produce zero emissions of car-bon dioxide, the primary gas of concern for global warming.Hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered aircraft would eliminate the com-bustion cycle altogether, thereby producing no combustionemissions and drastically reducing engine noise.

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• Air Applications. In the near term, hydrogen fuelcell technology can be used to provide aircraft aux-iliary power, increasing aircraft safety and propul-sion system efficiency. Aircraft use of hydrogen canbe an important step in establishing a hydrogeneconomy that could free the U.S. from depend-ence on foreign sources of energy. The benefits ofmoving from hydrocarbon-fueled to hydrogen-powered aircraft clearly justify an expanded andaccelerated program to make aerospace a leader inhydrogen energy research.

• Space Applications. In the nearer-term, nuclear fis-sion and plasma sources should be actively pursuedfor space applications. In the longer-term, break-through energy sources that go beyond our currentunderstanding of physical laws, such as nuclearfusion and anti-matter, must be credibly investi-gated in order for us to practically pursue humanexploration of the solar system and beyond. Theseenergy sources should be the topic of a focusedbasic research effort.

Human Factors. In the final analysis, all technologyinvolves the human.

• Human-Centered Design. Automated systems canincrease capacity and safety of aerospace systems,but not without human factors research. In airtraffic management, for example, one of the mainconstraints on system capacity is human cognitiveworkload limitations. A typical air traffic con-troller can only maintain awareness of four to seven aircraft at a time. Automation couldremove this limitation but would change the con-trollers’ function. This will require human factorsresearch to examine: human-automation interac-tion; the display, exchange and interpretation ofinformation; the role of the operator; and operatorselection and training.

Advanced engine exhaust nozzles like the one in this NASAtest chamber will help reduce the noise near airports.

New cockpits will be radically differentfrom those of today.

Ion engines may propel future spacecraft.

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Improving safety is possible using automation tocompensate for and to assist humans. To achievethis, human factors research is needed to advanceour fundamental understanding of how peopleprocess information, make decisions, and collabo-rate with human and machine systems. The result will be enhanced performance and situa-tional awareness of the human—in and out of thecockpit.

• Space Radiation Effects. Radiation is a significantlimiting factor for long-duration human spacemissions. Human factors research is needed to bet-ter understand and counteract/overcome theeffects of radiation to maximize crew physicalhealth, psychological integrity, protection and sur-vival during long-duration space flight.

Nanotechnology. Not only did microtechnology leadto computers and the Internet during the second half

of the 20th century, but italso brought us to thebeginning of an excitingscientific revolution wenow call “nanotechnol-ogy.” Microtechnologyhelped develop scientificinstruments that make itpossible for the first timeto image, manipulate, andprobe objects that can bemore than one thousandtimes smaller than themicrocircuits of the most

advanced computers. These objects have dimensionson the scale of nanometers, 1/100,000th the widthof a human hair.

Recent discoveries indicate that, at the nano scale,devices and systems have completely different electri-cal, mechanical, magnetic, and optical propertiesfrom those of the same material in bulk form. Thiscould lead to over an order of magnitude increase in material strength which could revolutionize aerospace vehicle structural design and performance.See Figure 9-2. In addition, they will enable thedevelopment of miniaturized, inherently radiation-

hardened materials and electronic components. Theycould also help eliminate aviation noise, providemorphing-capable airframes, reduce the cost of spaceaccess and help bring about a new, highly advancedgeneration of small satellites for surveillance andatmospheric monitoring.

The benefits of research may not be realized fordecades but are critical to innovation and to keepingthe nation’s intellectual capital “ever green.”Research needs to be world-class and be increasinglyinterdisciplinary in nature.

Infrastructure. Maintaining a world-class nationalaerospace RDT&E infrastructure is needed to ensurethat this country’s research programs can be per-formed successfully. Testimony before theCommission and studies conducted by the federalgovernment over the last decade have found that thenation’s research infrastructure is aging, locally opti-mized, and unable to meet our future needs.

Aging. Much of the U.S. RDT&E infrastructure is40 to 50 years old and marginally maintained. The nation must properly fund: routine maintenance and upgrades; the development of advanced computational/simulation tools and the integrationinto the research facilities and test processes; thedevelopment of new test technology and associatedinstrumentation; and the implementation of thesenew technologies in national research assets.

Nanotechnology is the creation offunctional devices on the nanometerlength scale (1-100 nanometers).

Figure 9-2 Past and Projected Strength ofMaterials for Air and Spacecraft Structures

1860 1900 1940 1980 20602020

1000

200

0

1200

600

400

800

Source: Langley Research Center, NASA

Stre

ngth

Per

Uni

t Mas

s

Wood Aluminum Composite

CarbonNanotubes

Single CrystalCarbon Nanotubes

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Locally Optimized. Government and industry man-agers optimize their infrastructure resources locallyand not from a national perspective. The federal government needs a process to ensure that the U.S.aerospace RDT&E infrastructure is right-sized,state-of-the-art, affordable, and supports joint gov-ernment-industry use in achieving our nationalobjectives.

Unable to Meet Future Needs. The nation needs toidentify and invest in a new infrastructure that sup-ports U.S. government and aerospace industry needsso our infrastructure does not become a constrainton our country’s technology advancement. Forexample, the nation will need production-orientedwind tunnels, with test capabilities beyond thosecurrently available, to design and test new hyper-sonic vehicles and systems.

The Commission believes that the White House andthe Congress must increase and sustain funding inlong-term research and associated RDT&E infra-structure to develop and demonstrate new break-through aerospace capabilities.

National Technology Demonstration Goals: Do Not ExistLong-term research and the associated RDT&Einfrastructure are the building blocks for developing

breakthrough aerospace capabilities and is an indis-pensable part of the U.S. innovation process. Just asthe government invested in aerospace capabilitiesthat transformed the second half of the 20th century(e.g., jets, radar, space launch, satellites), it mustinvest in capabilities that will transform the first partof the 21st century. To focus our aerospace researchinvestments on developing these breakthrough capa-bilities, the Commission suggests the Administrationadopt—as a national priority—the achievement ofthe following aerospace technology demonstrationgoals by 2010.

Air Transportation• Demonstrate an automated and integrated air

transportation capability that would triple capacityby 2025;

• Reduce aviation noise and emissions by 90 percent;

• Reduce aviation fatal accident rate by 90 percent;and

• Reduce transit time between any two points onearth by 50 percent.

Space• Reduce cost and time to access space by 50

percent;

• Reduce transit time between two points in spaceby 50 percent; and

• Demonstrate the capability to continuously moni-tor and surveil the earth, its atmosphere and spacefor a wide range of military, intelligence, civil andcommercial applications.

Time to Market and Product Cycle Time• Cut the transition time from technology demon-

stration to operational capability from years anddecades to weeks and months.

Wind tunnels at NASA’s Ames Research Center, someof which are over 50 years old.

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Figure 9-3 shows how the research areas discussedearlier support the demonstration goals.

Transition of Government Research to Aerospace Sector: Slow The Commission believes that the U.S. aerospaceindustry must take the leadership role in transition-ing research into products and services for the nationand the world. To assist them, the government mustprovide industry with insight into its long-termresearch goals and programs. With this information,

the industry needs to develop business strategies thatcan incorporate this research into new products andservices. Industry also needs to provide an input tothe government on its research priorities. Lastly, gov-ernment and industry need to create an environmentthat will facilitate acceleration of technology transi-tion into application.

Information Transfer. The government hasattempted to transfer technology that it develops forits unique department and agency missions to indus-

Aerospace Demonstration Goals for 2010

Information Technology Modeling and simulation Software engineering HPCC Large scale networks Smart and brilliant Individualized instruction

Propulsion and Power Subsonic / Supersonic Hypersonic Access to space Travel through space

Human Factors Radiation effects of space Automated systems Assisting humans

Noise and Emissions New sources of power Vehicle design Active / passive surface control

Nanotechnology Intrinsically radiation hardened New structure (morphing) Energy storage Sensors and computers

Breakthrough Energy Sources Hydrogen Nuclear (fusion) / Plasma Anti-matter, zero-point

Rese

arch

Are

as

Automate andintegrate air

transportationto triplecapacity

(by 2025)

Reduceaviationnoiseand

emissionsby

90 percent

Reduceaviation

fatalaccident

rateby

90 percent

Reducetransittime

betweentwo

pointson

earthby half

Reducecostand

time toaccessspaceby half

Reducetransittime

betweentwo

points in spaceby half

Continuouslymonitor andsurveil the

earth,atmosphereand space

Reducetechnology

-to-system

transitiontimefrom

monthsto weeks

Air Transportation Space Cycle Time

Primary Contributor

Supporting Contributor

Figure 9-3 Aerospace Research Areas vs. Demonstration Goals

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try through various mechanisms, such as cooperativeagreements. These mechanisms, however, tend to becumbersome and slow, which many times results intechnology being obsolete before the agreements aresigned and the products fielded. In addition, indus-try has been slow to utilize technology from federallaboratories as part of their products and services.Government and industry need to develop new waysof transferring research and technology developed infederal laboratories and in academia.

In the future, new ideas and knowledge will be trans-lated directly into prototype products and services for customer testing. Industrial design, modeling,simulation, and computer-aided manufacturing andsoftware development will become major elements inan integrated and streamlined innovation processthat can apply “tomorrow’s ideas to today’s productsand services.”

These opportunities, plus the dramatic improve-ments in individual and group productivity throughautomation, networking, and modeling, will radi-cally alter the way we apply research to develop newand innovative products and services. Information(and intellectual capital) will become the new “trans-fer” function of the 21st century. This new functionwill enable industry to transition research into newproducts and services quickly.

Public-Private Partnerships. Government, indus-try, labor and academia need incentives that encour-age them to think and act in the common interest ofthe nation. They need to be motivated and rewardedfor performing world-class research, for reengineer-ing product-development processes, for taking anational perspective and for delivering quality prod-ucts and services quickly and affordably. In short,they need incentives for change, so that they can deliver more for less, quickly andaffordably.

For example, to encourage industry and academia towork together, the government should consider pro-viding tax incentives to the industry for bothresearch sponsorship and capital investments that

they make in universities. This would providetrained technical staff and focused research productsfor the industry, while providing more resources foracademia to perform cutting-edge research.

Under the leadership of the White House, the gov-ernment, industry, labor and academia need to worktogether to transform the way they do business,allowing the nation to capitalize on the best ideasavailable and apply them rapidly to new products,processes and services. Each plays an important rolein the process, but each often has conflicting goalsand objectives. These goals and objectives need to bereconciled and an environment established that per-mits joint governance over the process. The govern-ment and industry should jointly publish these goalsand objectives with a set of metrics and milestones tomeasure the success of the process.

Product Development Process. Government,industry, labor and academia view long-range scienceand technology research as a separate function fromacquisition, rather than an integral part of a largerproduct-development process. Furthermore, theyview science (“S”) and technology (“T”) as separatefunctions, further hindering the application of new ideas and concepts to the development andmanufacture of new products and services. SeeFigure 9-4.

VAATE: A MODEL FOR PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS

• Addresses a critical dual-use technology

• Has well-defined goals, objectives, and milestones

• Integrates a variety of disciplines (e.g., materials and struc-tures, aerodynamics, computational fluid dynamics, etc.)

• Coordinates government/industry efforts

• Provides near-term payoffs to existing systems and enablingtechnologies for new systems

• Possesses strong government (DoD/NASA) leadership/over-sight

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The aerospace sector in the 21st century will bedriven by the need for speed, quality, service, costand innovation. If government is to help industry becompetitive, it must think and act on the same timescale as industry—days, weeks and months asopposed to years and decades.

Global competition dictates that the U.S. transitionfrom a research, development and acquisitionprocess that is fragmented, serial, and functionally-oriented to an innovative process that is dramaticallysimpler, integrated, and streamlined. The public andprivate sectors need a processthat enables them to apply thebest ideas available domesti-cally and internationally inorder to provide the very bestquality products and servicesto their customers faster andcheaper. See Figure 9-5.

The Commission believes thatthe nation needs a new, moreflexible and integrated product-development processthat stimulates new ideas and turns them into newaerospace products and services faster than our inter-national competition. Essential characteristics of thisnew process are:

• Coordinated national goals;

• The aggressive use of information technologies;

• Incentives for real government, industry, labor andacademia partnering; and

• An acquisition process that integrates science andtechnology as part of the acquisition—or productdevelopment—process.

ConclusionsThe United States must maintain its preeminence inaerospace research and innovation to be the globalaerospace leader in the 21st century. This can onlybe achieved through proactive government policiesand sustained public investments in long-term

research and state-of-the-artRDT&E infrastructure that willresult in new breakthroughaerospace capabilities.

Over the last several decades,the U.S. aerospace sector hasbeen living off the researchinvestments made primarily fordefense during the Cold War—intercontinental ballistic mis-

siles, the Saturn V, space-based reconnaissance, theglobal positioning system, stealth and unmannedaerial vehicles. The challenges posed by our rapidlychanging world—asymmetric threats, internationalcompetition, environmental awareness, advances intechnology—demand that we, like the Wright broth-ers 100 years ago, look at the challenges as opportu-nities for aerospace and turn them into reality.

Government… must thinkand act on the same time

scale as the industry—days,weeks and months as opposed

to years and decades.

Customers & Markets(Goals)

Public-PrivatePartnerships (Capability

Demonstration andDeployment

Science, Engineeringand Technology

Research

Customer / Market Pull

Customer / MarketPull & Capability Push

Capability Pull & Research Push

Time to Market - MonthsCycle Time - Days to Weeks

Figure 9-5 New Innovation Process for theAerospace Sector

ProductManufacturing /

Distribution

Customers

Demonstration

TechnologyDevelopment

AppliedResearch

BasicResearch

Oversight /Rework

Technology Pulland Research Push

Time to Market - DecadesCycle Time - Years to Decades

Figure 9-4 Traditional Linear U.S. Science &Technology and Acquisition Model

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Government policies and investments in long-termresearch have not kept pace with the changing world.Our nation does not have bold national aerospacetechnology goals to focus and sustain federal researchand related infrastructure investments. It lacks astreamlined innovation process to transform thoseinvestments rapidly into new aerospace products,processes and services.

The United States has unlimited opportunities torevolutionize aerospace in the 21st century, openingup new markets and launching a new era of U.S.global aerospace leadership. The nation needs to cap-italize on these opportunities, and the federal gov-ernment needs to lead the effort. Specifically, it needsto invest in long-term enabling research and relatedRDT&E infrastructure, establish national aerospacetechnology demonstration goals, create an environ-ment that fosters innovation and provide the incen-tives necessary to encourage risk taking and rapidintroduction of new products and services.

Increase Public Funding for Long-TermResearch and RDT&E Infrastructure. TheAdministration and Congress need to sustain signif-icant and stable funding in order to achieve nationaltechnology demonstration goals, especially in thearea of long-term research and related RDT&Einfrastructure. Research areas that provide the poten-tial for breakthroughs in aerospace capabilitiesinclude:

• Information Technology;

• Propulsion and Power;

• Noise and Emissions;

• Breakthrough Energy Sources;

• Human Factors; and

• Nanotechnology.

Establish National Technology DemonstrationGoals. The Administration and Congress shouldadopt the following aerospace technology demon-stration goals for 2010 as a national priority. Thesegoals, if achieved, could revolutionize aerospace inthe next half century much like the development ofthe jet, radar, space launch, and satellites did over thelast half-century.

Air Transportation• Demonstrate an automated and integrated air

transportation capability that would triple capacityby 2025;

• Reduce aviation noise and emissions by 90 percent;

• Reduce aviation fatal accident rate by 90 percent;and

• Reduce transit time between any two points onearth by 50 percent.

Space• Reduce cost and time to access space by 50

percent;

• Reduce transit time between two points in spaceby 50 percent; and

• Demonstrate the capability to continuously moni-tor and surveil the earth, its atmosphere and spacefor a wide range of military, intelligence, civil andcommercial applications.

Time to Market and Product Cycle Time• Reduce the transition time from technology

demonstration to operational capability from yearsand decades to weeks and months.

Accelerate the Transition of GovernmentResearch to the Aerospace Sector. The U.S. aero-space industry must take the leadership role in tran-sitioning research into products and services for the nation and the world. Government must assist byproviding them with insight into its long-termresearch programs. The industry must aggressivelydevelop business strategies that can incorporate thisresearch into new products and services. Industryalso needs to provide input to government on itsresearch priorities. Together industry and govern-ment need to create an environment that will accel-erate the transition of research into application. TheDepartments of Defense, Transportation, Commerceand Energy, NASA, and others need to work withindustry and academia to create new partnershipsand transform the way they do business.

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RECOMMENDATION #9

The Commission recommends that the federal

government significantly increase its investment

in basic aerospace research, which enhances U.S.

national security, enables breakthrough capabili-

ties, and fosters an efficient, secure and safe

aerospace transportation system. The U.S. aero-

space industry should take a leading role in

applying research to product development.



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Chapter 9 – Research: Enable Breakthrough Aerospace Capabilities · 9-5 FINAL REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON THE FUTURE OF THE UNITED STATES AEROSPACE INDUSTRY Chapter 9 – Research: