Net Present Value Challenges for NextGen 2025 and Beyond

The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) represents the transformation of the National Airspace System (NAS). It includes our national system of airports and uses 21st century technologies to ensure future safety, capacity and environmental needs are met. NextGen will be realized through investments in research and development, new technologies, operational changes, and coordinated efforts of private industry and federal NextGen Partner Agencies. In 2009 the first integrated cost, benefit, and risk analysis of an executable 2025 NextGen architecture showed very large benefits, but also significant development and implementation risks as well as potentially very large environmental impacts. The NASA Strategy Architecture & Analysis (SAA) team has led an effort to recalibrate the tradespace for NextGen to address these challenges and within that new space is investigating an On Demand Mobility concept using electric aircraft, telepresence, the full NextGen vision, and airport robotics as one possible means of enabling a viable transportation future.