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16 · Open Questions Roll-Up

Implementation Readiness Roll-Up

Andi Lamprecht Andi Lamprecht ·· 6 min read· Draft
Implementation-planning index. Each cluster page has its own “Implementation Readiness — Open Questions” section. This page aggregates them, surfaces the cross-cutting decisions that should become cluster-wide ADRs, and provides counts to help PM and engineering prioritize.

1. Status Snapshot

MetricCount
Pages with open questions14
Total open questions logged~166
Blocking for MVP implementation~86
Recommended cluster-wide ADRs8
Page-scoped ADRs flagged~110

2. Cross-Cutting ADRs (Highest Priority)

The same decision shows up on multiple pages. Resolving these once unblocks many entries downstream. Each should be drafted as a single ADR with cluster-wide scope.

#ADR TitleWhy It Spans the ClusterOwnersPages Affected
CC-1Signed-Object Serialization and Canonicalization (CBOR/COSE vs JSON/JWS, primary on wire)Manifest, capsule, endorsement, telemetry packet all need one wire format that’s stable, compact, and signableEngineering + Securityauthorization-package, disconnected-operations, system-design, pki
CC-2Signature Algorithm Suite and Post-Quantum Migration PathECDSA P-256 baseline locked, but Ed25519 timing, hybrid PQ trigger, and per-artifact alg selection are openEngineering + Securitypki, authorization-package, aircraft-hardware-identity
CC-3HSM Vendor Selection, FIPS Posture, and Key Ceremony RunbookAll signing roots (ATOMx Root, OEM intermediates, authority endorsement) depend on a consistent HSM stanceSecurity + Legalpki, onboarding-manufacturers, threat-model
CC-4Audit-Ledger Backing Technology and Tamper-Evidence MechanismHash-chained Postgres vs Merkle DAG vs managed-ledger vs immutable cold storage — touches every signing event, disclosure, and reconciliationEngineering + Securitysystem-design, threat-model, authorization-package
CC-5Identity-Proofing Vendor and IdP Topology (login.gov primary, FIDO2/PIV/VC integration)The “Strongly Verified” tier and federation contract reach into every authorizationEngineering + Product + Legalpilot-identity, onboarding-operators-and-pilots, system-design
CC-6Multi-Tenancy Isolation Strength (logical-only vs partitioned vs FedRAMP single-tenant)Determines feasible deployment models for federal vs commercial customersEngineering + Security + Productsystem-design, onboarding-authorities
CC-7FedRAMP Boundary, Authorized Cloud Services, and Classified-Jurisdiction PostureDrives which GCP / Azure-Gov / IL5 services are admissible and how classified deployments are partitionedSecurity + Product + Legalsystem-design, onboarding-authorities, threat-model
CC-8Remote ID Standards-Compatibility Analysis — does the ATOMx extension fit inside optional fields of F3411 / Part 89 / F3586 / F3548?Resolved Outcome: fits inside optional fields, no rule change required. F3411 §5.4.5.11 explicitly blesses private AuthTypes A–F; Part 89 specifies a floor (mandatory messages + ≥1 Hz periodicity) not a ceiling; F3586 is silent on the Authentication Message; F3548 §1.6 covers value-added capabilities. Three caveats apply (9-msg-per-pack cap, no normative “ignore-unknown-AuthType” clause, no central AuthType registry); one recommended lightweight registrar action with ASTM F38. No FAA petition. Full analysis → Remote ID Standards Compatibility.Product + Legal + Standards-Externalremote-id-standards-compatibility, disconnected-operations §5.1, origins-and-decisions §3.2

Drafting these 8 cluster-wide ADRs first will collapse a meaningful portion of the ~110 page-scoped ADRs into “follows from CC-N.” CC-8 resolved 2026-05-11 — see Remote ID Standards Compatibility. Field deployment is no longer regulatory-blocked, subject to the three implementation caveats documented in that analysis.

3. Owner Distribution

A coarse breakdown of who needs to be at the table to resolve the open questions. Many entries have shared ownership; counts below tally any-touched.

Primary OwnerApproximate # of Questions Touching Them
Engineering~110
Security~80
Product~55
Legal~30
External (FAA, OEMs, standards bodies, agencies)~25
SRE / Platform~15

The Engineering + Security overlap is structural — most cryptographic and protocol decisions need both. PM-led decisions (purpose-code catalogs, role permissions, tier semantics) cluster around the onboarding pages and the disclosure policy.

4. Per-Page Open-Questions Index

Each page owns its open-questions section. Click through to read the canonical entries.

PageCluster WeightQuestionsBlockingADRs ProposedSource Section
Trust Model101179§ Open Questions
Trust Ladder201067§ Open Questions
PKI and Chains of Trust3015813§ Open Questions
Pilot Identity4012~6~9§ Open Questions
Aircraft Hardware Identity50136~10§ Open Questions
Authorization Package6012710§ Open Questions
Flight Lifecycle70106~8§ Open Questions
Disconnected Operations8052~3§ Open Questions
Local Broadcast & Messaging8293~7§ Open Questions
Remote ID Standards Compatibility85resolves CC-8; no open-questions section
Threat Model901269§ Open Questions
System Design100148~10§ Open Questions
Onboarding Manufacturers1101077§ Open Questions
Onboarding Aircraft120116~8§ Open Questions
Onboarding Operators and Pilots130105~7§ Open Questions
Onboarding Authorities140139~11§ Open Questions

(_index.md and Origins and Decisions intentionally have no open-questions section — origins §9 already enumerates research gaps from a different angle.)

5. Suggested Drafting Order

A tractable sequence that respects dependencies — earlier ADRs unlock later ones:

  1. CC-8 Remote ID Standards-Compatibility AnalysisResolved 2026-05-11. Outcome: fits inside optional fields; no rule change required. See Remote ID Standards Compatibility.
  2. CC-3 HSM Vendor and Ceremony — pure procurement and security-architecture; runs in parallel with CC-8
  3. CC-2 Signature Algorithm Suite — unblocks most signed-object work; benefits from CC-3 being underway
  4. CC-1 Serialization and Canonicalization — needs CC-2 settled; partly shaped by CC-8 (Remote ID payload constraints may force CBOR)
  5. CC-7 FedRAMP Boundary — gates cloud-service selection for CC-4 and CC-6
  6. CC-4 Audit Ledger Backing — needs CC-7 to scope acceptable technologies
  7. CC-6 Multi-Tenancy Isolation — needs CC-7 for federal-customer constraints
  8. CC-5 Identity Proofing and IdP Topology — partner-dependent; can run in parallel with the others

After the eight cluster-wide ADRs, page-scoped ADRs can be drafted in parallel by domain owners. The blocking count (~86) gives a realistic MVP-readiness backlog.

6. ADR Storage and Format

ADRs for this cluster live in content/docs/ATOMx/ADR/ (existing convention; see Talos-21-Trust-Model.md for the format precedent). Suggested naming:

  • Cluster-wide: ATOMX-CC-NN-<short-title>.md
  • Page-scoped: ATOMX-<page-slug>-NN-<short-title>.md

Each ADR should include: Context, Decision, Status, Consequences, Alternatives Considered, Page References. A template lives in the ADR archetype if the docs site has one configured.

7. Maintenance

This roll-up is not auto-generated. When a page’s open-questions list changes, update this page’s counts manually. When an ADR is drafted, strike or annotate the corresponding entry on the source page and update this roll-up to point at the ADR. When all entries on a page have been resolved, remove that page’s open-questions section entirely and bump its status from Draft to In Review.

8. Cross-References

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