One of those new opportunities is the receiver that will pick up the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) messages pumped out by aircraft.
Twice a second, planes will report their position, speed and direction using ADS-B transponders.
Already this information is assisting the monitoring and management of air space over land, and the satellite receivers are set to have a major impact over the oceans where aeroplanes are beyond the sight of radar.
The North Atlantic, for example, is one of the busiest traffic corridors in the world, handling about 550,000 movements a year. But the current lack of real-time visibility means flights must follow regimented tracks, maintaining a separation from the nearest aircraft of 23-40 nautical miles.
“What space-based ADS-B will allow us to do is reduce the separation standard to 15 nautical miles (in line and to the side),” explained NATS safety director, Alastair Muir.
“It increases the capacity but more importantly also enables a whole raft of safety and other benefits for our customers in respect of greater fuel efficiency, and then obviously CO2 emissions.”
