Satellite Based ADS-B for Safer Air and Space Transport

The steadily increasing air traffic in particular on transoceanic routes requires extending controlled airspace to those regions not yet covered by ground based surveillance. An ADS-B system with a strong focus on space-based ADS-B could provide global and continuous air traffic surveillance to overcome the prevailing surveillance constraints in non-radar airspace (NRA). In NRA surveillance is applied procedurally, which means that the pilot issues position reports via aircraft radio when certain waypoints have been reached. Modern aircraft are also equipped with ADS-C (Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Contract), a point-to-point data link connection based onFANS1/A equipment and Satcom or HFDL data link. Due to limited bandwidth and service costs the system transmits the flight position and other information only every 15 minutes. Since 2008 the German Aerospace Center (DLR) started to prove that 1090ES ADS-B signals broadcasted by aircraft can be received on board of low earth orbiting (LEO) satellites. This was validated in 2013 by world's first in-orbit demonstration of a space based ADS-B system, hosted on the ESA satellite PROBA-V. The results of the mission are discussed and summarized. They have an influence on the performance requirements for Sat based ADS-B to allow minimized separation in NRA together with an impact on prevailing processes and flight safety standards. The services can be integrated in the Air Traffic Management (ATM) information exchange concept of the System Wide Information System (SWIM) and extended to space plane operations