This session, part of the ELISA Project Working Group & SIG Annual Updates, was presented by Matthew Weber (The Boeing Company) and co-led with Dr. Martin Hall. It provides an overview of the Aerospace Working Group’s progress in 2025 and outlines priorities for 2026.
The Aerospace Working Group focuses on advancing the adoption of Linux in safety-critical aerospace and space systems by addressing technical, process, and certification challenges through collaboration and shared best practices.
Key Highlights from 2025
- Strong and consistent community engagement, with diverse participation from industry, academia, and government
- Introduction of a weekly technical call to develop reference demos and use cases, leading to increased contributions (code, documentation, and examples)
- Completion of the cabin lights demo, a foundational reference system demonstrating safety-relevant behavior and validation concepts
- Extension of the demo using NASA Core Flight System (cFS), incorporating telemetry, monitoring, and auto-generated safety checks
- Development of a product classification template to characterize aerospace and space systems by safety level and system attributes
- Collaboration with other ELISA groups (e.g., Systems WG) on reference architectures and cross-domain concepts such as mixed-criticality systems
- Progress in industry papers and research contributions, including submission to the Digital Avionics Systems Conference
Focus Areas and Priorities for 2026
- Expanding system and product classification models (including NASA-class systems)
- Enhancing and scaling reference demos and baseline system studies
- Strengthening collaboration with the Space Grade Linux initiative
- Advancing industry papers and formal publications
- Continuing improvements in tooling, CI environments, and documentation processes
Opportunities for Collaboration
- Open monthly and weekly meetings covering general topics, demos, and paper development
- Active contribution areas including demos, documentation, linting, and research
Engagement via GitHub, mailing lists, and community channels
This session highlighted how the Aerospace Working Group is building practical artifacts, frameworks, and collaborative momentum to enable Linux in safety-critical aerospace environments, while inviting broader participation from the community. To learn more watch the session here.