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Faster Flights Are Coming With New Satellite Tracking Technology (bloomberg.com)

Posted by msmash on from the coming-up-next dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report: The company that provides the U.K.'s air-traffic control service is taking a 10 percent stake in Aireon, a U.S. firm that's building a satellite-based tracking system and will offer commercial services to controllers starting next year. Aireon plans to use a constellation of 66 Iridium Communications. Next satellites in low Earth orbit to track aircraft. Iridium has 50 in orbit already, 47 of which are operational. Each carries equipment to offer aircraft position data to ground controllers.

Iridium plans to launch five additional satellites on May 22 from California, completing its full network later this year. Aireon said 70 percent of the world's airspace lacks satellite tracking or airline surveillance coverage, including most oceans and parts of Africa and Latin America.

3 of 34 comments (clear)

  1. Typical Summary by TFlan91 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Typical /. summary doesn't even include the reason for the headline...

    Aircraft currently crossing that pond report their positions every few minutes as they fly set routes, keeping at least 40 miles apart. Aireon said its satellite-based system could allow for 15 miles of separation on oceanic routes, making room for more planes.

  2. How? by I4ko · · Score: 1, Informative

    How does that make flights faster?
    The typical speed limitation is either for optimal fuel consumption or staying under the constructive limit where your wings no longer provide lift but you stall. You can increase either of them without making a new, re-engineered plane.

    And for the ares around airports, where you enter a hold or a landing pattern, air traffic control radars already know where you are.

    1. Re:How? by Dantoo · · Score: 5, Informative

      Because in OCA you will be able to apply much more flexible separation standards, allowing a mix of speeds (closing), earlier climbs, later descents, less speed imposition at crossing points and just push a whole lot more aircraft through choke points without having to slow the whole lot down to the speed of the LCD.

      There's a shit-ton of ways that replacing 15 minutes with no closing longitudinal time standards, with more flexible distance standards free up the speed limits that are imposed now.