NASA SponsoredSafeFlight
Airspace Safety Margin Predictor
Airspace safety margin 4-hour prediction with weather impact analysis, traffic density correlation, terminal area risk, and flight risk profiles.
Knowing today's safety margins is useful; knowing the next four hours is actionable. SafeFlight predicts airspace safety margins up to four hours ahead, so staffing, flow, and flight decisions can be made before margins tighten.
It combines weather impact, traffic density, terminal-area risk, and per-flight risk profiles — including factors such as crew fatigue — into one forecast. SafeFlight was developed with NASA sponsorship.
Capabilities
Forecasting safety margins, not just traffic
Safety margin prediction
Margins are forecast up to four hours ahead for terminal and en route airspace.
Weather impact analysis
Forecast weather is translated into its effect on capacity, routing, and margin.
Traffic density correlation
Predicted demand is correlated with historic margin behaviour at similar density.
Terminal area risk
Risk is resolved to the terminal areas where it concentrates.
Flight risk profiles
Individual flights carry a risk profile that includes operational factors such as crew fatigue.
Architecture
How it works
1 · Ingest
Traffic, schedules, and weather observations and forecasts are aggregated in Helios.
2 · Model
Predictive models trained on historic margin behaviour forecast margins across the next four hours.
3 · Deliver
Forecast views by airspace and flight, with the drivers behind each prediction.
Technical profile
At a glance
- Horizon
- Up to 4 hours
- Data inputs
- Traffic and flight data, schedules, weather observations and forecasts
- Core methods
- Machine-learning margin prediction, weather impact modelling, flight risk profiling
- Outputs
- Margin forecasts, terminal-area risk, flight risk profiles
- Delivery
- Web application and Helios APIs
- Platform
- Helios — Cignus’s AWS-native aviation data and AI platform
- Access
- Role-based, enforced per request at the Helios API layer — not inside the application
FAQ
Common questions
How is SafeFlight different from the Safety Dashboard?
The Safety Dashboard measures safety margins as they happen; SafeFlight forecasts them up to four hours ahead. They use the same margin definitions.
How is access controlled?
By role, at the API layer. Every request to Helios passes through interceptors that check the caller’s role and scope before any data is returned, so the same rules apply whether the request comes from the application, an API client, or an integration. Nothing is governed inside the application itself.
See SafeFlight in action
We will walk through it on data from your airport or airspace and discuss how it fits your operation.