FAQs
Find answers to the most frequently asked questions about Aireon, our history, ADS-B data technology, and our products. Still curious? Learn more in our case studies.
About Aireon
Aireon was created in 2011 to provide real-time global air traffic surveillance anywhere in the world.
Iridium began launching satellites in 2017 and the Aireon service went live in 2019.
Aireon was founded for ANSPs by ANSPs. The original shareholders were some of the largest ANSPs in the world – NAV CANADA, UK NATS, AirNav Ireland, ENAV, and Naviair.
Iridium Communications, a leading provider of global voice, data, and positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) satellite services, acquired Aireon in 2026.
Aireon’s Service Desk provides 24/7/365 operational support and system monitoring. The dedicated team monitors the flow of Aireon data from the satellite network through delivery to customers, while managing operational communications, service notifications, and customer inquiries.
Aireon’s Air Traffic Surveillance (ATS) data is certified by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Aireon also holds an International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) 27001 certification, an internationally recognized standard for information security management systems.
Aviation Data
Automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) is data transmitted from the aircraft that broadcasts the aircraft’s identity, position, altitude, and heading, among other information to use in air traffic control applications. ADS-B equipage and data transmission are mandated in many parts of the world to enhance safety and increase situational awareness of aircraft in the airspace.
Air navigation service providers (ANSP) around the world use ADS-B data to safely and efficiently navigate and surveil aircraft in real-time. In order to meet their operational and safety objectives, ANSPs need know exactly where aircraft are, where they are headed, and the identity of the operator.
Other aviation stakeholders can use ADS-B for flight tracking, historical events analysis, safety analytics, asset tracking, turbulence monitoring, and operational analytics.
Historically, ADS-B was provided by a ground-based network of sensors, which provides information about terrestrial traffic. But until 2019, more than 70% of the world was not surveilled because of the lack of reliable ADS-B infrastructure.
Aireon launched in 2019 onboard the Iridium constellation, a network of 66 low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites (plus 14 in-orbit spares). Aireon’s payloads capture all of the ADS-B messages transmitted by aircraft globally.
Having space-based capability offers tremendous and operational benefits, including surveillance over oceans, mountains, remote regions, and contested airspace that was previously not available.
Additionally, Aireon’s ADS-B network meets the strict, real-time Air Traffic Service (ATS) surveillance requirements for separation services, anywhere in the world. Aireon is the only provider of global, certified, consistent, and accurate provider of space-based ADS-B data.
Aireon Products
Global ATS Surveillance is powered by Aireon’s space-based ADS-B data, delivering high-fidelity, global aircraft surveillance trusted by Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSP) around the globe. As the industry’s gold standard, Aireon’s Global ATS Surveillance enables safer, more efficient airspace management through improved situational awareness, more direct flight routes and plans, and reduced aircraft separation.
AireonSTREAM is a flexible interface that provides customized real-time data streams for enhanced safety and improved situational awareness. AireonSTREAM fuses ADS-B data with contextual data to provide a single source of global flight data for all phases of flight, from gate-to-gate.
AireonFLOW is a high-fidelity air traffic surveillance data solution that provides continuous, global aircraft position data and contextual flight information. This tailored offering enhances arrival predictions and supports safer, more efficient air traffic flow management, capacity planning, and demand forecasting across airspaces.
- AireonINSIGHTS is a family of data products for event-based flight information and historical data analysis. Among products in this family:
Safety Dashboard is a web-based dashboard that helps users visually identify, monitor, and analyze key leading indicators of safety in their airspace. - Aireon Locate portal supports time-critical search-and-rescue operations around the world, including in challenging areas such as the polar regions, oceans, and remote locations.
- Aireon Turbulence delivers real-time turbulence detection data, processing 15,000-20,000 active flights at any given moment, giving customers the ability to make informed decisions about turbulence severity and risk, quickly and efficiently.
- Aireon Flight Events provides event-focused flight record information without requiring continuous positional tracking, capturing key moments throughout an aircraft’s journey to deliver a comprehensive flight overview.
AireonVECTOR (Validation & Enhanced Calculation of Tactical Operational Routing) is a family of data products that works to identify and mitigate the impact of real-time GPS interference. AireonVECTOR delivers GPS-independent aircraft positioning, interference trend monitoring, and visualization tools to help aviation stakeholders enhance operational awareness and ensure navigation resilience. Among products in this family:
- VECTOR Flight identifies an aircraft’s GPS-independent “truth position” using the timing of satellite-received ADS-B transmissions.
- VECTOR Map delivers standardized geospatial intelligence to support route planning, pattern-of-life analysis, and situational awareness using a distributed sensing network that detects GNSS interference, spoofing, and jamming hourly.
- AireonVECTOR Monitor is a COTS visualization tool that allows users to integrate detailed analytics into the sources and impacts of signal interference.
- STREAM powered by VECTOR is a product that provides information that will reduce long-gaps in flight tracks to provide the full flight picture, highlighting the areas of GPS interference.
