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| Astronautics Nexis Flight Intelligence System (FIS) in a cockpit. Photo: Astronautics |
[Avionics Today 08-26-2015] The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has awarded a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) to Astronautics Corporation of America’s Nexis Flight-Intelligence System (FIS) for Airbus A318, A319, A320 and A321 aircraft. Astronautics’ Nexis platform allows an operator to create an aircraft network for seamless operations, including aircraft and back-office networking with security solutions. The system also enables the display of enhanced applications, such as electronic charts, enroute moving maps and a digital library in order to support paperless operations. The charts and maps are further enhanced by two certified multi-function displays that show ownership information and real-time weather.
NEXIS connects the aircraft by recording, monitoring, and automatically transmitting Flight / Maintenance Operational Quality Assurance data (FOQA / MOQA), facilitating Loadable Software Aircraft Parts (LSAPs) and Flight Management System (FMS) dataloads, and providing advanced global tracking capabilities. In order to further enable Portable Electronic Devices (PEDs), such as iPads and other tablets, Astronautics is also adding to the Nexis system the ability to securely interface with mobile devices either wirelessly or through wired means. This functionality will be available in the first quarter of 2016.
“Our NEXIS secure server stores and processes information generated on the aircraft during flight that can be automatically downloaded to an airline’s operation center enabling improved maintenance and more efficient flight operations,” said Chad Cundiff, president of Astronautics. “Via our secure interface, operators can connect their mobile devices to Nexis without direct access to flight critical avionics. Nexis is device agnostic, allowing it to securely connect to any tablet or PED that is deployed.”
Nexis received an FAA STC in August of 2013 for same EASA approved models of aircraft.