Iridium Archives

Iridium to Acquire Aireon, Advancing its Strategy to Lead the Future of Aviation Safety

May 14, 2026May 14, 2026 by Ume Farwa

MCLEAN, Va., May 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: IRDM), a leading provider of global voice, data, and positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) satellite services, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Aireon LLC, operator of the world’s only space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) air traffic surveillance system. The acquisition of Aireon is … Read more

From Concept to Global Impact: How Aireon Came to Be

April 2, 2026 by Emily Feliz

April 4 marks an important day for Aireon, as it commemorates Aireon’s Operational Service Anniversary. In its 7 years in service, Aireon has revolutionized the aviation industry – going from a small start-up to a highly recognized and widely respected industry leader. “We started with an idea and a couple of PowerPoint slides, and we created a fully functional company that provides a safety-of-life service, globally,” said Don Thoma, Aireon Chief … Read more

Aireon Achieves Major Milestone to Bring Space-Based VHF to Aviation Marketplace

December 10, 2024 by Emily Feliz

Aireon, a global leader in aviation data products and services, marked a significant achievement in its campaign to bring space-based VHF services to the aviation marketplace with the spectrum license filing with regulators. In a filing this month through Canadian spectrum regulator Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Aireon put forward … Read more

Marking Five Years of Operational Excellence

May 15, 2024April 3, 2024 by Emily Feliz

By Vinny Capezzuto, Aireon Chief Technology Officer April 2019. Years of planning, designing, developing, forecasting, testing, launching, and calibrating became a reality when the Aireon global air traffic surveillance system – the first of its kind – became an operational reality. For the first time ever, all automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) equipped aircraft were visible … Read more

Aireon System Gains Enhanced Resilience with Iridium Satellite Launch

March 13, 2024May 20, 2023 by Emily Feliz

Five additional satellites increase number of in-orbit spares to 14 Aireon announced today the successful launch and deployment of an additional 5 satellites carrying its space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) payloads, hosted on the upgraded Iridium® satellite constellation. The five satellites were launched this morning from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California via a SpaceX Falcon … Read more

Aireon Celebrates International Air Traffic Safety Electronics Personnel Day

January 10, 2024November 12, 2022 by Emily Feliz

Nov. 12 is International Air Traffic Safety Electronics Personnel Day (ATSEP), a day to mark the important contributions of the essential services provided by specialists who are involved in the creation and support of ground-based electronic hardware and software systems used to support air navigation and air traffic management.

Aireon Takes Full Control of Final ADS-B Payloads

January 8, 2024February 7, 2019 by Emily Feliz

Aireon announced today it has formally received control of the final six Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) payloads from Iridium Communications. Hosted on the Iridium® NEXT satellite constellation, Aireon’s space-based ADS-B system will deliver–for the first time in history–100 percent global, real-time surveillance of all ADS-B equipped aircraft.

A New Era of Global Aircraft Surveillance is on the Horizon as Aireon Completes System Deployment

January 8, 2024January 11, 2019 by Emily Feliz

Aireon announced today a successful eighth and final launch and deployment of the Iridium NEXT satellite constellation hosting the Aireon space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) payloads.

It’s Just ADS-B

January 10, 2024September 14, 2018 by aireonredesdev

Aireon’s space-based global air traffic surveillance service is ADS-B on a satellite. Instead of utilizing traditional radio receiver towers on the ground, Aireon has redesigned them into flexible and highly effective space-grade receivers on Iridium’s second-generation satellite constellation, Iridium NEXT. This allows for 100 percent global air traffic surveillance using the same ADS-B signal that aircraft already transmit.

Back-to-Basics (Part 2): All Things Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B)

March 25, 2024September 13, 2018 by Emily Feliz

A Simple Snapshot of the Aireon System’s Process in Action

For the second installment of our ‘Back-to-Basics’ blog series, 1090 Global is diving deeper into the inner workings of Aireon’s technology. At the core of the Aireon system is a technology called ADS-B which, in addition to being at the cutting-edge of aviation surveillance and aircraft tracking, is the foundation of every Aireon Hosted Payload (AHP).

Aireon System Deployment Continues with Seventh Successful Launch

January 8, 2024July 25, 2018 by Emily Feliz

Aireon announced today the seventh successful launch and deployment of its space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) payloads, hosted by the Iridium® NEXT satellite constellation. At 04:39:30 AM PDT (11:39:30 UTC), a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and placed 10 new Iridium NEXT satellites into low earth orbit, bringing the total number of Aireon payloads in orbit to 65.

Aireon System Deployment Continues with Sixth Successful Launch

January 8, 2024May 22, 2018 by Emily Feliz

Aireon announced today the sixth successful launch and deployment of its space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) payloads, hosted by the Iridium® NEXT satellite constellation. At 12:47:58 PM PDT (19:47:58 UTC), a flight-proven SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, bringing the total number of Aireon payloads in orbit to 55.