Marking Five Years of Operational Excellence

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

Satellite

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 Takes Full Control of Final ADS-B Payloads

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.

It’s Just ADS-B

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)

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

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

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.

Fourth Set of Iridium NEXT Satellites Arrive in Orbit and Provide Telemetry

ridium Communications announced today that the fourth set of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites, launched Friday by SpaceX, are functioning nominally and have begun the testing and validation process. Not only did this fourth launch mark the midway point of the Iridium NEXT launch campaign, it is also the first Iridium NEXT launch to use a flight-proven Falcon 9 rocket.