Originally Posted by
AYLflyer
Space travel has always had autonomy, since the days of Gemini/Apollo. That doesn't mean that just because we can operate 2 or 3 space craft at one time autonomously, that we can suddenly, and should start operating thousands and thousands of airliners autonomously on Earth over populated areas.
Space travel autonomy requires a cast of thousands on the ground, monitoring every bit and byte of data. That doesn't translate to routine commercial air ops very well.