Aireon, FAA Do Validation Testing of ADS-B System

Aireon and the Federal Aviation Administration collaborated on a test flight of a satellite-based automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast system, using an FAA aircraft with three Aireon payloads receiving ADS-B data, the company said in a news release Wednesday. The test flight March 30 was used to validate Aireon capabilities, it said. It also said the FAA will compare Aireon space-based ADS-B data to existing ADS-B ground station data. Aireon said it expects its satellite-based ADS-B system to be operational in 2018, after the completion of the Iridium Next constellation (see 1602250048).