DAKAR, SENEGAL – 12 December 2019 – Following nearly two years of collaboration on terrestrial surveillance between the Agency for Aerial Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA) and Aireon, the two organizations have concluded the use of space-based ADS-B for surveillance services beginning January 1st 2020 within the six flight information regions (FIRs) of ASECNA: Antananarivo, Brazzaville, Dakar Terrestrial, Dakar Oceanic, N’djamena and Niamey.

WASHINGTON—FAA is considering expanding its use of space-based surveillance to track aircraft and maintain separations in oceanic airspace beyond an operational trial slated to begin in the Caribbean region in March 2020. The agency is developing a one-to-three-year roadmap “to expand our use of this promising technology,” FAA deputy administrator Dan Elwell informed the NextGen Advisory Committee Dec. 12. Read Full Article

The airplane tracking data beams down to Northern Virginia from a network of 66 satellites, first to Leesburg, then Herndon, then to air traffic controllers around the world. Seeking to solve a conundrum of modern flight, global aviation authorities have begun using the satellite data to allow planes to fly closer to one another over the Atlantic and other remote regions. Read Full Article 

PNG Air Services Limited Partners with Aireon In its efforts to better track flight plans and boost aviation safety in Papua New Guinea; PNG Air Services Limited in a partnership with Aireon signed an agreement to deploy Aireon’s space-based technology in PNG.