[Avionics Magazine 06-20-2016] Under a new Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed with Aireon LLC, JSC Azimut and JSC Infocom-Avia will evaluate the possible future use of space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) to support air traffic management in Russian Federation airspace.
The Space-based ADS-B concept of operations. Photo: Aireon LLC.
“This is an extremely important step for Aireon. The Russian Federation’s airspace spans over 26 million square kilometers and accounts for over 12.5 percent of the world with over 1.4 million flights per year. The MOA with Azimut and Infocom-Avia positions space-based ADS-B to potentially be used in one of the largest airspaces in the world,” said Cyriel Kronenburg, vice president of aviation services at Aireon.
Azimut provides radio-communication, navigation, landing, surveillance and air traffic management automation to The State Air Traffic Management Corporation of the Russian Federation (State ATM Corporation), Russia’s Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP) and international markets. Infocom-Avia is the designated operator of aviation information services in Russia.
Aireon’s space-based ADS-B service will be operational in 2018, shortly after the completion of the Iridium Next constellation. The first Iridium Next launch is scheduled for September 12, when the company will launch 10 satellites using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket out of the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Aireon’s launch customers include Nav Canada, the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), Naviair, ENAV, NATS, South Africa’s Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS), the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), and Curacao’s DC-ANSP.