Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&amp;P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.

Editor-in-Chief

Matt Thurber

The Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) has published a report—Benefits Analysis of Space-Based ADS-B—that highlights how automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast technology could be used to cover remote regions of the world, including oceans, where it is difficult or impossible to place ADS-B ground stations. Space-based ADS-B uses receivers installed in satellites to detect ADS-B signals broadcast from equipped aircraft then retransmits that information to air navigation service providers (ANSPs). “Experts interviewed for this report believe it may introduce a step change in improving the safety of oceanic operations,” according to the FSF.

 


Currently one company, Aireon, has created the type of space-based ADS-B network discussed in the FSF report, with transceivers installed on Iridium Next satellites, and it is offering its services to ANSPs worldwide. (The FSF report does not specifically mention Aireon.) To send data to ADS-B-equipped satellites, aircraft would need to have an ADS-B antenna installed on the top of the fuselage. Recently Aireon signed agreements with South Africa’s ANSP and <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2016-02-17/singapore-aireon-sign-agreement-space-based-ads-b">Singapore’s Civil Aviation Authority</a> to provide space-based ADS-B services, and other ANSPs have signed on for Aireon services as well.

 


There is another company that is offering its own version of space-based ADS-B. ADS-B Technologies developed the ADS-B Link Augmentation System (Alas), which uses a special transceiver installed in ADS-B-equipped aircraft to send ADS-B information to GlobalStar satellites, which then retransmit the information to ground stations then to ANSPs or other users. The company has tested Alas—the first flight-tests took place in 2010—and says it is ready for implementation. One difference between the two companies’ systems is that Alas can encrypt the signals sent from the aircraft to the GlobalStar satellite and from there to the ground station. Normal ADS-B signals are unencrypted, and there are concerns that this could raise privacy issues and also open the door to signal spoofing or other types of hacking. Alas equipment would cost “less than $40,000” for a commercial aircraft, according to ADS-B Technologies.

 


In addition to much faster update rates than radar, space-based ADS-B could allow for reductions in aircraft spacing where there is currently little ability for air traffic controllers to monitor aircraft position in real time. Current spacing over oceans is typically 30/30 nm (lateral and longitudinal spacing). Space-based ADS-B should eventually allow implementation of a 15/15 nm standard, according to the FSF report: “Space-based ADS-B should enhance ATC [situational awareness] significantly because the data-update rate combined with the known accuracy, reliability and integrity of ADS-B will enable ATC to provide enhanced monitoring and separation services over the ocean and over remote (unsurveilled) regions.”

 


There are other benefits of space-based ADS-B, such as improved flight tracking that would meet upcoming ICAO requirements. “Space-based ADS-B will create a global surveillance ‘blanket’ and, with this, an ability to support [search-and-rescue] services globally in retaining position data,” the report noted. This would include transmission of “time-critical flight data to assist in the reconstruction of some initial parameters of an accident,” which would be helpful in accidents where the location of the wreckage is difficult to pinpoint.&nbsp;

 


Many other benefits would accrue to aircraft operators and ANSPs using space-based ADS-B, among them improved safety alerts for air traffic controllers, easier rerouting for weather, routing flexibility to take advantage of favorable winds, RVSM height monitoring and NextGen trajectory operations. &nbsp;

 


“There are a number of regulatory safety performance and certification processes that must&nbsp;be completed; however, the range of ADS-B mandates that must be complied with over&nbsp;the next five to six years should stimulate both equipage uptake and regulatory processes to manage the various risks identified,” the FSF report concluded.

News, issues, personnel, equipment and developments about air traffic management.

Space-based ADS-B Benefits Outlined in FSF Report

The Flight Safety Foundation's report explains how space-based ADS-B could improve surveillance of aircraft over oceans and remote areas.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

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New developments at airports including regulations and noise issues; legal disputes; openings, acquisitions and mergers.

News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

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Issues regarding financing of aircraft; aviation insurance; tax issues for aircraft operators; new companies and people in the aviation financing and insurance industries.

News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

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News and issues relating to civil and military unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) of all kinds and sizes, including those used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), combat (unmanned combat air vehicles, or UCAVs), law enforcement, research and other applications. Of particular focus is the FAA's planned integration of UAS into the U.S. national airspace system.

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News and issues concerning general aviation, specifically airplanes and helicopters powered by piston and alternative engines (i.e., non-turbine powered aircraft). Subjects include aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

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