GPS World

Tag: ADS-B

  • Aireon Plans Global Emergency Tracking Service for Aircraft

    Aireon LLC, developer of a space-based ADS-B global air traffic surveillance system, is planning the Aireon Aircraft Locating and Emergency Response Tracking (Aireon ALERT) service, a global emergency tracking service that will be provided free of charge to the aviation community beginning in 2017. The Aireon ALERT service will allow rescue agencies to request the location and last flight track of any 1090-MHz ADS-B equipped aircraft flying in airspace currently without surveillance.

    “A comprehensive, global aircraft tracking solution is essential in emergency situations, as evidenced by MH370 earlier this year and Air France 447 in 2009,” said Don Thoma, president and CEO, Aireon. “Aireon is being deployed to improve the efficiency and safety of aircraft operations in oceanic and unsurveilled airspace. The same technology behind these efficiency and safety gains can also make a significant difference in providing quick, accurate information in emergency situations. With one global view of ADS-B equipped aircraft, Aireon ALERT will provide accurate and real-time tracking data immediately to authorized search-and-rescue operations, without requiring airlines to equip aircraft with new avionics or the ANSPs and authorities to deploy new systems.”

    Aireon is deploying a global space-based ADS-B surveillance capability providing direct air traffic controller visibility of flights operating in oceanic or remote airspace, focused on improving the efficiency and safety of aircraft operations. When Aireon is fully operational, anticipated for 2017, it will create a powerful platform capable of tracking ADS-B equipped aircraft around the globe in real time.

    The Aireon ALERT service will be available soon after Aireon’s full deployment and will be provided through a 24/7 application and emergency call center. Historical track data will be available to pre-authorized users, including ANSPs, airlines, and search-and-rescue authorities, through Aireon ALERT soon after controller communications are lost with an aircraft. The system can also provide real-time tracking of aircraft in distress, provided ADS-B transmissions are still operational.

    “Tracking of aircraft in emergency and search-and-rescue situations is a complex issue,” said Cyriel Kronenburg, vice president sales and marketing for Aireon. “We plan to engage the various aviation stakeholders including the airlines, ANSPs, regulators, and search-and-rescue organizations over the next 12 months to define the technical, operational, and legal details of providing this data in emergency situations.”

    “We anticipate support from the world’s airlines for the approach taken by Aireon for emergency tracking,” said John Crichton, president and CEO of NAV CANADA. “Airlines already stand to gain over $125 million per year in fuel savings in the North Atlantic alone by using Aireon’s space-based surveillance service. The Aireon ALERT public service offers an additional benefit, free of charge, ensuring that ADS-B equipped aircraft can be tracked anywhere in the world, even in airspace managed by ANSPs that have not subscribed to the Aireon service.”

    Aireon is a joint venture among Iridium Communications Inc., NAV CANADA, ENAV, IAA, and Naviair, established to launch the Aireon system by hosting ADS-B receiver payloads on Iridium NEXT, Iridium’s second-generation satellite constellation, scheduled for first launch in 2015. This new capability will extend air traffic surveillance to the entire planet and increase the safety and efficiency of air travel over oceanic and remote regions.

  • Harris Corp. Completes Space Qualification Testing of Hosted Payload for Global Aircraft Tracking System

    Harris Corporation has achieved a key milestone under a five-year contract with Aireon LLC that will create the first global satellite-based aircraft tracking system. The announcement was made during the SATELLITE 2014 Conference and Exhibition, held March 10-13 at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

    The company’s Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) 1090 Extended Squitter receiver payload has been successfully tested and qualified for simulated operation in the harsh environment of space for more than 12 years. Simulated performance testing also validated the agility of the payload to adapt to evolving aircraft traffic patterns over the same span of time.

    Harris is providing Aireon with 81 of the ADS-B receiver payloads. They will be hosted on board the Iridium NEXT satellite constellation to enable precise aircraft tracking that will optimize air traffic management around the world. Ground-based ADS-B networks, which process GPS signals and other data from aircraft, are limited by an infrastructure that cannot monitor flights over oceans or remote regions, a limitation now highlighted by the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines jetliner on March 8.

    The Harris payloads are based on the company’s AppStar reconfigurable payload platform. They will be mounted on 66 low Earth-orbiting satellites, six on-orbit spares and nine ground spares that comprise the Iridium NEXT constellation. The air traffic surveillance function will be performed separately from the main mission of the spacecraft. The constellation’s main mission is providing voice and data coverage to satellite phones, pagers and integrated transceivers over Earth’s entire surface. The launch of the first Iridium NEXT satellite is planned for 2015.

    “Completion of this testing verifies that our payload design works for its intended environment and moves us into the production phase,” said Bill Gattle, vice president and general manager, National Programs, Harris Government Communications Systems. “This program exemplifies the benefits of a public-private partnership model, using commercially hosted payloads to get both government and commercial mission capabilities into space without the time and cost required to build and launch separate satellites.”

    “Harris has met or exceeded all of the major milestones in the development and test of the receiver payload for this groundbreaking program,” said Don Thoma, president and CEO, Aireon. “The combined, powerful offering our collective organizations will provide to the global air traffic community will transform air travel.”

  • Accord’s NexNav GPS Receiver Supports Freeflight with FAA’s Capstone Retrofit Project

    Accord Technology’s NexNav GPS receiver will be supporting FreeFlight Systems with its recently awarded FAA Capstone Retrofit Project. In March 2013, FreeFlight and Accord announced their collaboration to develop practical and cost-effective ARINC 429 WAAS GPS solutions that enable aircraft operators to meet ADS-B, RNP (0.3) and other performance-based navigation mandates, worldwide.

    The NexNav Circuit Card Assembly (CCA) will integrate with FreeFlight’s upgraded automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) avionics to fulfill the requirements of the second phase of the FAA Capstone Project.

    “This is an excellent example of how we are working closely with FreeFlight Systems to create state-of-the-art NextGen solutions that are not only meeting upcoming mandate requirements but doing it in a cost effective manner,” stated Hal Adams, Chief Operating Officer for Accord Technology, LLC.

    The Accord Technology NexNav product line revolves around two key receivers, NexNav mini and NexNav MAX. The receivers are at the heart of embedded customer solutions whether as a Circuit Card Assembly (CCA) or embedded in the Line Replacement Unit (LRU) as a stand-alone GPS solution.

    NexNav mini was the industry’s first GPS receiver and sensor qualified to fully support the known worldwide and U.S. FAA ADS-B GPS source requirements The NexNav mini and MAX are compatible with EGNOS and other Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) to the extent they are is compatible with WAAS.