Aireon is an American company based in

McLean, Virginia McLean ( ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. McLean is home to many diplomats, military, members of Congress, and high-ranking government officials partially due to its proxi ...

. Founded in 2011, it manufactures, deploys, and operates a global aircraft tracking and

surveillance system Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as c ...

utilizing satellite-based receivers to monitor the existing ADS-B transmissions of aircraft, for global air traffic surveillance.

History

Aireon was launched in 2011 as a joint venture between

satellite communications A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. ...

company

Iridium Communications Inc Iridium Communications Inc. (formerly Iridium Satellite LLC) is a publicly traded American company headquartered in McLean, Virginia. Iridium operates the Iridium satellite constellation, a system of 66 active satellites and 9 in-orbit spares ...

Nav Canada Nav Canada (styled as NAV CANADA) is a privately run, not-for-profit corporation that owns and operates Canada's civil air navigation system (ANS). It was established in accordance with the ''Civil Air Navigation Services Commercialization Act' ...

, NATS,

ENAV ENAV S.p.A. is an Italian joint-stock company which operates as an exclusive supplier of civil air navigation services in the Italian airspace. As an air navigation service provider (ANSP) it is responsible for the provision of air traffic cont ...

Naviair {{Infobox company , name = NAVIAIR , logo = File:Naviair Logo.svg , type = State owned , area_served = Denmark Faroe Islands Greenland , key_people = Carsten Fich (CEO) , industry = Air Navigation Service Provider , products = , parent = ...

and the

Irish Aviation Authority The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) ( ga, Údaras Eitlíochta na hÉireann) is a commercial semi-state company in Ireland responsible for the regulation of safety aspects of air travel. It is also responsible for providing air traffic control serv ...

to work on a surveillance system to track aircraft around the globe, beyond the range of ground-based radar and ADS-B receivers, in real time. Nav Canada invested $150 million to acquire a 51% stake in the project. In September 2016, Aireon launched a partnership with

FlightAware FlightAware is an American multi-national technology company that provides real-time, historical, and predictive flight tracking data and products. , it is the world's largest flight tracking platform, with a network of over 32,000 ADS-B gr ...

to provide space-based ADS-B to airlines and other aircraft operators with Qatar Airways as the launch customer. In January 2017, Aireon launched and deployed its first ADS-B payloads on Iridium Next satellites. Seven launches followed the first launch. The eighth and final launch in January 2019 completed the satellite 'constellation' and put the total in-orbit Aireon payloads at 75 (66 operational payloads and 9 spares). National ANSPs including Nav Canada, UK NATS, ENAV, IAA, AAI, Naviair, Isavia, CAAS of Singapore, ATNS of South Africa, DC-ANSP, ASECNA, Seychelles (SCAA), COCESNA Honduras and PNG of Papua New Guinea have signed a Data Services Agreement with Aireon.

Technology

ADS-B-equipped aircraft transmit short data packets containing identification, position and other information. The system was intended to be used with ground-based receivers. Through its receivers in space, Aireon monitors these transmissions, providing coverage where there is no ground infrastructure, relaying signals from all ADS-B equipped aircraft to controllers. Iridium Communications hosts the Aireon payloads on its constellation of Iridium NEXT low-orbiting communication satellites. Aireon's receiver data is also processed by

which has partnered with Aireon to provide data to airlines, other aircraft operators, and the public.

References

External links

*{{cite news, url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/thenational/aireon-space-based-global-tracking-1.5080893, title=New real-time tracking system locates planes anywhere in the world, last=Hanomansing, first=Ian, publisher=

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.c ...

, date=2 April 2019, access-date=3 April 2019 Companies based in McLean, Virginia