US Federal Aviation Administration okays satellite-based air traffic control system

In a move that is bound to revolutionise the way air traffic will be tracked and controlled in the United States, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has given the green signal to deploy satellite-tracking systems across the country, replacing the current radar-based approach.

The new system, which has generated controversy, too, would allow air traffic controllers to track aircraft aided by a satellite network using a system known as Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B), which is 10 times more accurate than the present radar technology.

“ADS-B is a part of the US Federal Aviation Administration’s wide-reaching plan known as NextGen to revamp every component of the flight control system meet future demands and avoid gridlock in the sky,” a statement from the agency explained.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is an agency of the United States Department of Transportation with authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the US. The FAA is the single most influential governmentally run aviation agency in the world, with the European Aviation Safety Agency coming a close second.

According to the FAA, the Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast promises a 10-fold increase in the accuracy of satellite signals that will let air traffic controllers reduce separation standards between aircraft, thereby significantly increasing the number of aircraft that can be safely managed in America’s skies. “When properly equipped with ADS-B, both pilots and controllers will, for the first time, see the same real-time displays of air traffic, improving safety.”

Air traffic, the FAA said, is projected to grow from 740 million passengers in 2007 to 1 billion in 2015, and double today’s levels by 2025.

In October 2007, the FAA had proposed that all aircraft flying in the United States’ busiest airspace have satellite-based avionics by 2020. An executive order signed by US President George W Bush on November 18, 2008, speeded up the implementation of the so-called NextGen systems.

The ADS-B had been beta-tested by UPS Airlines, based in Louisville, Kentucky, the United States, since 1996.

UPS Airlines, the subsidiary of United Parcel Service Incorporated, based in Atlanta, Georgia, reportedly tested the ADS-B on 107 Boeing B-757 and Boeing 767 aircraft.

The ADS-B benefits pilots in various other ways such as receiving free, real-time weather updates from the National Weather Service as well as critical flight information such as temporary flight restrictions and special-use airspace.

ADS-B uses transponders and receivers to allow pilots and air-traffic controllers to monitor the spacing between aircraft in the air. It also monitors the spacing between aircraft and vehicles on the tarmac.

The system is also designed to help planes avoid colliding with other planes or ground vehicles and prevent planes colliding in mid-air.

The implementation of the ADS-B system, the FAA said, would begin in Florida, where 11 ground satellite stations will be built. Nationwide, 794 ground stations will be built to accommodate the ADS-B system.

Work on an ADS-B station at Louisville International Airport and at UPS Airlines’ hub airports in Philadelphia and Juneau, Alaska, is expected to be complete by the end of 2010.

In its report prepared earlier in 2008, the United States Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of US Congress charged with examining matters relating to the receipt and payment of public funds, had concluded: “The growing air traffic congestion and delay problem that the US faces is the result of many factors, including airline practices, inadequate investment in airport and air traffic control infrastructure, and how aviation infrastructure is priced. Addressing this problem involves difficult choices, which affect the interests of passengers, airlines, airports, and local economies. If not addressed, congestion problems will intensify as the growth in demand is expected to increase over the next 10 years.”