The combination of GPS position, digital communications networks and the Internet has made possible–and affordable–a variety of products and services for continuous real-time tracking of aircraft fleets by dispatchers on the ground. Nowhere has such capability been more eagerly accepted than in the realm of helicopter flight operations, many of which are now using data-link services to keep close tabs on their aircraft at all times.
Datalink service provider SkyTrac Systems of Penticton, British Columbia, Canada, offers the OSAT-100 datalink radio, the main hardware component of a system that provides automatic position reporting, two-way messaging and other types of data transfer between aircraft operating anywhere in the world. Using a regular Internet connection on the ground and the Orbcomm low-earth-orbit satellite network in space, the OSAT-100 provides global coverage through the SkyTrac datalink service.
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