Iridium on Track Toward 2015 Launch of First Payloads in Global Air Traffic Monitoring System
Iridium is on track to launch the first two payloads next year as part of its forthcoming satellite air traffic navigation system. Iridium teamed with Nav Canada, an air traffic management company, and is working with the Federal Aviation Administration and other entities to establish Aireon, a global, satellite-based surveillance capability for air navigation service providers, said Don Thoma, CEO of Aireon, developer of the Aireon system. Iridium and Nav Canada closed on the first $50 million investment from air navigation service providers, Iridium said Monday. That investment is part of a $120 million investment agreed to by providers in Denmark, Ireland and Italy (CD Dec 23 p16). With Nav Canada’s $150 million investment and the providers’ commitment, Iridium has all the capital it needs to build, deploy and operate the system, Thoma said.
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Aireon will allow aircraft to use satellites equipped with transponders to host ADS-B (automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast) receivers, which makes for a more accurate and efficient way of tracking aircraft, Thoma said. It would allow airlines to save a significant amount of fuel by flying more efficient flight routes, he said. Iridium contracted with Harris to design and build 81 hosted ADS-B receiver payloads, said Janet Nickloy, director of aerospace mission solutions at Harris. “We've successfully qualified the design and we've met all performance parameters.” It’s a milestone that gives all parties confidence that the design will accomplish the mission objective, she said. The public-private partnership around Aireon is unique, she said. “There’s a move toward government doing things differently and a drive toward commercial economics to meet government requirements and missions."
In order for the payloads to receive signals from the airplanes, Exelis is building and operating the infrastructure to process the data signals, said Ed Sayadian, Exelis vice president-air traffic management. Exelis plans to complete the ground data processing distribution system this year, he said. The system is being designed to determine where aircraft densities are, and to dedicate capacity to areas that have a large amount of air traffic, he said.
The Aireon business model is different from the traditional air traffic service provider model, said Sayadian. Most providers buy, install and run their equipment, he said. Aireon will allow customers to buy subscription services to a data feed, he said: “They're just buying a subscription to get all the surveillance data in a certain air space. … It’s unique and hasn’t really been done in the past.” Exelis already provides the FAA with a ground system ADS-B network and it plans to expand on that expertise, he said: “It serves as a great platform to provide additional services and capability, like situational awareness or display capability."
Nav Canada is working closely with Aireon and the FAA on some of the operational requirements and it plans to implement the service to Nav Canada customers by early 2018, said a Nav Canada spokeswoman. The real opportunity is with the air traffic over the North Atlantic area, she said. “Currently there’s no air traffic control surveillance over much of the North Atlantic because ground surveillance won’t reach out that far.” There is a potential to gain $125 million a year in fuel savings for Nav Canada customers through a more fuel efficient flight path, she said. The satellite-based system allows access to the remote areas of the world, she said: “Air traffic control surveillance has always been somewhat bound by the reaches of ground-based surveillance technology."
For U.S. airlines, about 50 percent of revenue miles comes from international flights, mostly over the ocean, Thoma said. “If you can save them 1-2 percent in fuel during a flight over the ocean, that’s substantial savings to their bottom line."
Iridium formed an advisory committee with the International Air Transport Association for key stakeholders from airlines and air traffic control authorities to coordinate and collaborate on the deployment of the infrastructure, Thoma said. “Iridium is assessing FAA air requirements to ensure that they are met by Aireon.” The FAA is undergoing its procurement process for making investments in new technology and capability, he said. Boeing will build a hosted payload operations center for the managing, monitoring and control of all the Iridium satellites, Thoma added.
Iridium expects enabling such innovation to be a hallmark of the FCC under Chairman Tom Wheeler, a spokeswoman said. The mobile satellite services provider wants to ensure that existing Big Low-Earth Orbit spectrum “continues to be available and new spectrum is made available for its expanding satellite needs,” she said. Iridium awaits action on its petition to reallocate Big LEO spectrum from Globalstar to Iridium (CD Nov 5 p5).