Avionics
ADS-B deployment serves as proving ground for NextGen
Progress on the FAA’s ambitious NextGen overhaul of the ATC system in the U.S.

Progress on the FAA’s ambitious NextGen overhaul of the ATC system in the U.S. has reached a vital juncture, one in which a long list of high-tech challenges confronting developers must be addressed quickly to avoid program delays and cost overruns in the future.

That was the message from presenters at an RTCA-hosted NextGen symposium in Washington, D.C., in September, who warned that the complexities of the first total makeover of the U.S. ATC system in 60 years present significant risk. But FAA officials speaking at the event also pointed to progress in deploying ADS-B (automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast) ground stations across the U.S. and redesigning airspace around the nation’s busiest airports as reasons to be confident that NextGen initiatives under way now will pay significant dividends by the end of this decade.