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ASCEREX

MissionVehicleSkywayFlight AutonomyInvestorsContact
Illustrative aerial network connecting cities across multiple altitude layers

COORDINATED AIRSPACE NETWORK

The Skyway

Flight needs structure between departure and destination.

Ascerex is researching a vehicle-aware network of directed routes, altitude layers, transitions, and operating rules designed to make aerial movement computationally legible.

Enter the network
CURRENT DEVELOPMENT FOCUSSynthetic infrastructure research & Route Mapping

What the Skyway provides

A shared operating structure.

The Skyway is the operating logic between a requested journey and the aircraft that will perform it. As many vehicles with different capabilities share the same environment, it organizes their movement before autonomy has to solve every interaction alone.

A destination does not produce a straight line through open air. It produces a journey through a network whose corridors, layers, transitions, and rules reflect the distance being traveled, the vehicle's demonstrated capabilities, and the conditions that exist at that moment.

Predictable movement
Shared routes, direction, entries, exits, merges, and transitions give vehicles a common operating structure.
Vehicle-aware access
The network can distinguish between a path that exists and a path a particular aircraft can actually use.
Alternatives under change
Closures, restrictions, degraded capability, or changing conditions can alter the journey without erasing the underlying network.

Mapping & simulation

From destinations to a network that can be tested.

Skyway research starts with the travel problem, adds the constraints already present in the world, generates candidate network structures, and compares how those structures behave.

Layers used to construct a synthetic Skyway studyExisting aviation and geographic constraints shape candidate corridors connecting origins and destinations across operating layers.ORIGINDESTINATIONDISTANCE / ALTITUDE / SPEED POLICY HYPOTHESESEXISTING ROUTES + GEOGRAPHY + EXCLUSIONS
Candidate corridor ACandidate corridor BCross-network connector

These are network links, not simultaneous directions for one vehicle.

  1. 01

    Define the operating problem

    Origins, destinations, travel distance, expected demand, and vehicle envelopes establish what the network must connect and support.

  2. 02

    Build the constraint picture

    Existing routes and airspace, terrain, obstacles, facilities, environmental considerations, and exclusions bound where candidate structures may be studied.

  3. 03

    Generate candidate structures

    Algorithms assemble corridors, direction, branches, merges, alternates, and altitude transitions without treating any generated layout as a selected design.

  4. 04

    Compare operating hypotheses

    Distance-based altitude, fixed layers, speed relationships, merge policies, resilience, and declared loads are tested as explicit alternatives.

What can be tested now

Topology, explicit connections, exclusions, redundancy, corridor failures, declared loads, reproducibility, and bounded algorithm comparisons.

What comes later

Automatic traffic assignment, time-based vehicle movement, representative density, live conditions, separation behavior, and integrated autonomy simulation.

One trip // Changing conditions

See the Skyway respond.

Follow a single synthetic journey as a route becomes unavailable and the vehicle's own limitations determine which alternative can still be considered.

ILLUSTRATIVE SYNTHETIC JOURNEYInitial path available
A Skyway journey responding to changing conditionsA trip between departure and destination first follows an available path, then encounters a restriction, and finally uses an alternative compatible with the vehicle.DEPARTUREDESTINATIONROUTE UNAVAILABLEOUTSIDE VEHICLE LIMITINITIAL PATHALTERNATIVE AALTERNATIVE B
Journey available

The vehicle receives an available path.

The network connects departure to destination through a path available under the initial synthetic conditions.

Illustrative Concept

Where development stands

A working foundation. An unfinished system.

Phase 1 is functioning as a synthetic software research environment, but the wider engineering and operational problem remains open. The program is organized by what exists now, what is being investigated, and what must come later.

  1. 01
    Foundation implemented

    A network the software can trust

    Versioned network records, strict validation, synthetic fixtures, restriction layers, deterministic generation, and paired visual artifacts now establish the Phase 1 software foundation.

  2. 02
    Current research

    Which network structures hold up

    Bounded studies compare backbone structures, altitude policies, merge behavior, alternates, corridor failures, declared loads, and algorithmic approaches without selecting a production design.

  3. 03
    Future development

    From synthetic networks to operational evidence

    Later work must qualify geography, vehicle capabilities, traffic, weather, separation, capacity, communications, autonomy, governance, and physical operating constraints before real-world conclusions are possible.

Current research artifact

The model stays consistent as conditions change.

The current prototype can create a versioned synthetic network, preserve its underlying structure while restrictions change, and produce consistent software and visual representations from the same data.

The terminal-neutral reference also demonstrates that the upper network can be studied without prematurely assuming where landing sites or access points must exist.

ResultSoftware contract passEngineering suitability unknown
terminal-neutral-referencev0.2
Layers
03
Nodes
09
Directed edges
10
Access nodes
00
Terminal-neutral synthetic networkThree connected layers with primary, alternate, reserve, climb, and descent paths.LONG DISTANCEINTERMEDIATELOCAL
Primary pathAlternate pathReserve connector

Colored paths show alternative directed connections through the same synthetic network. The geometry and layers are arbitrary fixtures—not proposed routes or operating altitudes.

Future navigation

Future research will combine the Skyway, current restrictions, and an aircraft's demonstrated capabilities to determine an eligible journey—and explain when no justified route can be produced.

01
Journey
Current location + destination
02
Aircraft
Range, energy, altitude, speed, climb + equipment capability
03
Network now
Available routes, closures, traffic conditions + restrictions
04
Environment
Applicable weather, terrain + operating conditions

The navigation process first removes paths that do not fit the aircraft or current conditions. It then compares the remaining alternatives and returns the usable journey with an explanation—or an explicit no-route result when none can be justified.

Next: Flight autonomy

Within the Skyway's operating boundaries, the Pilot continuously controls and supervises the aircraft from departure through landing.

Explore flight autonomy