Aireon has reported it is close to reaching full operational status for its eponymous space-based ADS-B system after it formally took control of the final hosted payloads on Iridium NEXT satellites on 7 February.
“Now that we have full control over every ADS-B payload in orbit, we are just weeks away from going live with the Aireon system,” said Dennis Diekelman, Aireon senior director of programme management.
A testing and validation stage of the real-time ADS-B system will be followed in late February by performance verification (calibration for optimal performance), and Aireon is optimistic that final system acceptance will begin around 1 March, ahead of North Atlantic operational trials with Nav Canada and NATS later that month.
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