With the aviation industry facing critical challenges including achieving carbon impact neutrality and safe, secure operations, Thales, Spire Global and European Satellite Services Provider (ESSP) have agreed to collaborate on achieving the goal of introducing a range of innovative global satellite-based surveillance services to the air traffic management (ATM) sector.
The surveillance services will be powered by a specialised constellation of more than 100 satellites collecting Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) messages broadcast from aircraft and transmitting the data back to Earth in real time. The plan is to certify, commercialise and start the operation of the service by 2027.
While Spire will develop the space segment, including system design, building the satellites and payloads, ground control and data collection, Thales will provision the ground air traffic management system and the service for supervision infrastructure. Meanwhile ESSP will manage the certification and delivery of the service for air traffic surveillance purposes and perform H24 operation and supervision, ensuring the compliance with real-time, safety-critical requirements imposed to ATC.
The three partners will also rely on the Space Alliance formed by Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio to identify and implement possible synergies bringing further added values in terms of key-enabling technologies, secured network optimisation and sustainable operations and services.
“This innovative satellite-based surveillance service will accelerate the implementation of our new ‘Air Traffic Control’ as a service’ offering,” said Christian Rivierre, VP Airspace Mobility Solutions, Thales. “It will play a crucial role in shaping the future of the skies, serving as a vital facilitator for trajectory-based operations and laying the foundation for a safer, more environmentally friendly and cost-efficient ATM system.”
The new end-to-end system will meet the rigorous requirements, including latency, coverage and revisit standards, set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and aviation authorities to be certified for air traffic surveillance.
The constellation’s satellites are designed to be replenished every five years, ensuring the system offers the latest and most advanced technology. In parallel to building the initial constellation, the companies will design and demonstrate a system that goes beyond ADS-B to geolocate the position of aircraft in real time, without relying on GNSS/ GPS satellites. This novel system will provide a resilient solution for tracking aircraft that cannot be impacted by vulnerabilities with GNSS/ GPS such as interference or outages. The expected follow-on of a successful demonstration will be the commercialisation of a second generation, highly resilient service – opening the door to holistic infrastructure optimisation strategies for ANSPs by the end of the coming decade.
Charlotte Neyre, CEO of ESSP concluded: “Taking the best of three worlds: Space Systems, ATC Systems and ATC Service Provision, is a game-changer for the aviation industry, providing the most valuable solution based on advanced new technologies. Our service is developed driven by users’ needs and expectations to face new service-levels, the challenge of ATC digitisation and to support greener and more sustainable air travel. We will provide the full range of ESSP’s Space-based CNS expertise to implement and to operate mission-critical services to ensure the highest quality of service to all aviation stakeholders.”
