Space-based surveillance enhances airspace capacity and safety in remote and oceanic areas, while contributing to the reduction of aviation’s environmental impact.

New-generation surveillance technologies, such as automatic dependent surveillance – broadcast (ADS-B), have improved airspace capacity and safety and are recognised as enablers of the European Green Deal objectives for aviation. However, these systems are primarily ground-based, leaving oceanic and remote areas uncovered despite high traffic demand. Consequently, these regions cannot benefit from the surveillance advancements available in populated areas, negatively affecting airspace efficiency and increasing the aviation environmental footprint.

Space-based ADS-B systems have improved traffic monitoring in oceanic and uninhabited areas by using low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, eliminating the need for ground stations. However, they remain sensitive to global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) integrity issues, as recently reported in the Baltic region.

A natural solution is to deploy space-based enhanced multilateration (E-MLAT) systems that leverage ADS-B LEO constellations to provide an independent integrity assessment for space-based ADS-B using various measurements collected aboard the satellites. Integrating E-MLAT with ADS-B delivers a complementary stream of GNSS-independent surveillance data, enabling the definition of integrity parameters for space-based ADS-B data.

Several fast-time simulations will be conducted in three realistic environments to demonstrate the operational benefits of the solution, including increased capacity and safety, as well as reduced fuel consumption and flight duration.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) will support the development of the solution to align it with the envisaged evolution of the Single European Sky. Furthermore, the solution will assist EUROCAE WG-51 in integrating new capabilities into the composite surveillance systems defined in standard ED-142A.

BENEFITS

• Increased capacity of airspace sectors over oceanic or sparsely populated areas.

• Enhanced safety of air operations in these sectors.

• Reduced environmental footprint of air operations.

• Improved passenger experience, for example through shorter long-haul flights.