Мемлекеттік аумақтың үстіндегі әуе кеңістігі

Portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country

Airspace is the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three dimensional portion of the atmosphere. It is not the same as outer space which is the expanse or space outside the Earth and aerospace which is the general term for Earth's atmosphere and the outer space within the planet's vicinity.

By international law, a state "has complete and exclusive sovereignty over the airspace above its territory", which corresponds with the maritime definition of territorial waters as being 12 nautical miles (22.2 km) out from a nation's coastline. Airspace not within any country's territorial limit is considered international, analogous to the "high seas" in maritime law. However, a country may, by international agreement, assume responsibility for controlling parts of international airspace, such as those over the oceans. Such airspace in respect of which a country is responsible under the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for operational control is called a Flight Information Region (FIR). For a coastal state, the FIR consists of the airspace above its land and sea territory plus any international airspace in respect of which ICAO has assigned responsibility to that state. For instance, the United States provides air traffic control services over a large part of the Pacific Ocean, even though the airspace is international.

There is no international agreement on the vertical extent of sovereign airspace, with suggestions ranging from about —the extent of the highest aircraft and balloons—to about 160 km (100 mi)—approximately the lowest extent of short term stable orbits. (The satellite Lixing 1 had a stable orbit with an apogee of 140 km (87 mi) for three days.) The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale has established the Kármán line—at an altitude of —as the boundary between the Earth's atmosphere and outer space, while the United States considers anyone who has flown above to be an astronaut Indeed, descending Space Shuttles flew closer than over other nations, such as Canada, without requesting permission first. Nonetheless, both the Kármán line and the U. S. definition are merely working benchmarks, without any real legal authority over matters of national sovereignty.

The Kármán line (or von Kármán line /v//ɒ//n// /'/k//ɑr//m//ɑː//n/) is a proposed conventional boundary between Earth's atmosphere and outer space. Until the middle of the 20th century, which was considered the pioneering time of aviation, there were no fixed boundaries as to what was national airspace and when it became international airspace. Because of this, a kind of customary law applied at the time and most countries such as the United Kingdom or the United States considered airspace as international from about 13,000 feet. However, this only applied in times of peace and if it was to the advantage of the states, there was no clear demarcation of the airspace question until the 1950s when the Kármán line was defined.

The boundary between public airspace and private air rights is defined by national or local law. In the United States, the 1946 Supreme Court decision United States v. Causby overturned the common law doctrine that private property rights extend indefinitely upwards, instead ruling that they end 300 feet above the highest terrain (including buildings), the lower limit of the "public highway" defined by Congress in the Air Commerce Act of 1926. The Federal Aviation Administration regulates the construction and marking of structures taller than 200 feet near airports and 500 feet generally.

Class A airspace is generally the airspace from 18,000 feet (~3.4 miles, 5.5 km) mean sea level (MSL) up to and including flight level (FL) 600 (~11.4 miles, 18.3 km), including the airspace overlying the waters within 12 nautical miles (NM) (~13.8 miles, 22.2 km) of the coast of the 48 contiguous states and Alaska. Unless otherwise authorized, all operation in Class A airspace is conducted under instrument flight rules (IFR).

MOAs consist of airspace with defined vertical and lateral limits established for the purpose of separating certain military training activities from IFR traffic. Whenever an MOA is being used, nonparticipating IFR traffic may be cleared through an MOA if IFR separation can be provided by ATC. Otherwise, ATC reroutes or restricts nonparticipating IFR traffic. MOAs are depicted on sectional, VFR terminal area, and en route low altitude charts and are not numbered (e. g., "Camden Ridge MOA"). [Figure 14 5] However, the MOA is also further defined on the back of the sectional charts with times of operation, altitudes affected, and the controlling agency.

Alert areas are depicted on aeronautical charts with an "A" followed by a number (e. g., A 211) to inform nonparticipating pilots of areas that may contain a high volume of pilot training or an unusual type of aerial activity. Pilots should exercise caution in alert areas. All activity within an alert area shall be conducted in accordance with regulations, without waiver, and pilots of participating aircraft, as well as pilots transiting the area, shall be equally responsible for collision avoidance.

CFAs contain activities, which, if not conducted in a controlled environment, could be hazardous to nonparticipating aircraft. The difference between CFAs and other special use airspace is that activities must be suspended when a spotter aircraft, radar, or ground lookout position indicates an aircraft might be approaching the area. There is no need to chart CFAs since they do not cause a nonparticipating aircraft to change its flightpath.

A service provided by facilities, which are located on the landing airport, have a discrete ground to air communication frequency or the tower frequency when the tower is closed, automated weather reporting with voice broadcasting, and a continuous ASOS/AWOS data display, other continuous direct reading instruments, or manual observations available to the specialist.

MTRs are routes used by military aircraft to maintain proficiency in tactical flying. These routes are usually established below 10,000 feet MSL for operations at speeds in excess of 250 knots. Some route segments may be defined at higher altitudes for purposes of route continuity. Routes are identified as IFR (IR), and VFR (VR), followed by a number. [Figure 14 7] MTRs with no segment above 1,500 feet AGL are identified by four number characters (e. g., IR1206, VR1207). MTRs that include one or more segments above 1,500 feet AGL are identified by three number characters (e. g., IR206, VR207). IFR low altitude en route charts depict all IR routes and all VR routes that accommodate operations above 1,500 feet AGL. IR routes are conducted in accordance with IFR regardless of weather conditions. VFR sectional charts depict military training activities such as IR, VR, MOA, restricted area, warning area, and alert area information.

Parachute jump aircraft operations are published in the Airport/Facility Directory (A/FD). Sites that are used frequently are depicted on sectional charts.

Published VFR routes are for transitioning around, under, or through some complex airspace. Terms such as VFR flyway, VFR corridor, Class B airspace VFR transition route, and terminal area VFR route have been applied to such routes. These routes are generally found on VFR terminal area planning charts.

TRSAs are areas where participating pilots can receive additional radar services. The purpose of the service is to provide separation between all IFR operations and participating VFR aircraft. The primary airport(s) within the TRSA become(s) Class D airspace. The remaining portion of the TRSA overlies other controlled airspace, which is normally Class E airspace beginning at 700 or 1,200 feet and established to transition to/from the en route/terminal environment. TRSAs are depicted on VFR sectional charts and terminal area charts with a solid black line and altitudes for each segment. The Class D portion is charted with a blue segmented line. Participation in TRSA services is voluntary; however, pilots operating under VFR are encouraged to contact the radar approach control and take advantage of TRSA service.

NSAs consist of airspace of defined vertical and lateral dimensions established at locations where there is a requirement for increased security and safety of ground facilities. Flight in NSAs may be temporarily prohibited by regulation under the provisions of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 99, and prohibitions are disseminated via NOTAM. Pilots are requested to voluntarily avoid flying through these depicted areas.