SES Techcom, a subsidiary of global satellite operator SES, has launched a space-based global air traffic monitoring system to potentially rival Iridium’s Aireon venture.
SES has partnered with the state-owned DLR German Aerospace Center on the…
SES Techcom, a subsidiary of global satellite operator SES, has launched a space-based global air traffic monitoring system to potentially rival Iridium’s Aireon venture.
SES has partnered with the state-owned DLR German Aerospace Center on the Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) system and the pair have begun testing the technology on the European Space Agency’s Proba V satellite, which was successfully launched by a Vega rocket on 6 May.
The satellite holds a payload that detects ADS-B signals emitted by suitably equipped aircraft. DLR is responsible for the operation of the instrument, while SES Techcom is in charge of the ground data processing centre, which retrieves, processes, analyses and stores all ADS-B data received from Proba V.
Aircraft fitted with ADS-B broadcast their position, altitude, velocity and other measurements on an automatic basis every second or so. With ADS-B transmissions, aircraft remain continuously visible to both ground controllers and other equipped planes. Proba V will demonstrate how many aircraft of which type can be observed worldwide – different-sized aircraft are assigned ADB-S systems with different signal strengths.
Commenting on the mission, an SES spokesperson said: “Proba V is a demonstration mission that shall prove for the first time the feasibility of receiving ADS-B messages from space. Depending on the results, we will continue discussions with our European partners to a future ADSB service.”
He added that SES and DLR have been in partnership on the ADS-B programme for ‘several years’ and that the two are considering bringing in other European players.
The technology is an evolution of the balloon experiments that DLR conducted three years ago and it has been working on the space-based version with SES as part of an ESA study contract since 2010.
The ADS-B system is being phased in on a worldwide basis, with all aircraft entering European airspace required to be equipped with it by 2015.
The technology is also being developed by Aireon, the joint venture formed in June 2012 by MSS operator Iridium and Nav Canada.
Harris is currently in the process of building a hosted payload for the Iridium NEXT constellation that will enable the satellites to receive the ADS-B transmissions. The first satellites in the constellation are expected to launched in 2015, with the full system in operation by the end of 2017.
Aireon recently signed a long-term commercial data services contract with Nav Canada and is in discussions with other ANSPs (air navigation service providers) about similar commercial agreements.
Regarding Aireon, the SES spokesman said, “We are convinced that this European technology is competitive towards Aireon technology.”
However, Iridium did not view the SES – DLR mission as a rival. An Iridium spokesperson said: “We do not view this as competitive to Aireon, on the contrary we view this initiative as complementary and motivated by scientific, rather than commercial, exploration of potential technologies.”
She added that in 2009 and 2010, Iridium supported DLR and SES in the ADS-B evaluation study for ESA.
