RE:a Globe articleI couldn't access the article as it is behind a paywall. I wonder, is it about the Aireon partnership of companies involving nav-canada and the Iridium next satallite system?
If so, here is what Mr. schmutz had to say about it in the last April Invesor letter:
Two companies have put together plans to collect surveillance information from space, or space based ADS-B. Aireon is a joint venture between Iridium and four Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSP). Also, Globalstar has a partnership with ADS-B Technologies of Alaska. Both Iridium and Globalstar use low earth orbiting satellites (LEO) that, if equipped with ADS-B receivers, can listen and report the surveillance signals broadcast by aircraft transponders in their receiving area.
The first ten of 66 Iridium NEXT satellites have been launched with an Aireon payload which is a space based ADS-B receiver. It will listen to the 1090 MHz frequency and report aircraft transmissions which will contain position information. So, if an aircraft is equipped with ADS-B, the service provided by the Aireon data will provide information “where” the aircraft is; provided you pay for the service that Aireon and their partners will provide. However, the service will not provide awareness about what is happening onboard the aircraft or the aircraft’s operational state. This service will not indicate “how” the aircraft is; it’s operational state and whether the aircraft’s systems are operating within normal parameters. The service will also not explain “what” is happening onboard the aircraft; is the aircraft flying within normal parameters, e.g. speed, roll, pitch, yawl, etc.? ADS-B is not a communication channel that can be modified or altered to send the rich information to benefit flight operations and maintenance that FLYHT’s AFIRS can send. AFIRS can provide real-time data from specific systems on board the aircraft, Aireon cannot since the ADS-B system implements an ATC reconnaissance function with a very specific and limited intended function.
There are many different tracking technologies that will allow compliance to certain aspects of the ICAO mandates, whether it is Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS), or ADS-B, or space based ADS-B, or ADS-C – a Future Air Navigation Systems (FANS) surveillance function that will report aircraft location to operation centers. There are also technologies, like FLYHT’s, that can be installed and provide tracking in addition to or in lieu of these other technologies. However, none of these other technologies satisfy both the Autonomous Distress Tracking (ADT) requirements as well as the Timely access to Flight Data requirements, like FLYHT’s AFIRS. There are no other solutions with the extensive list of AFIR’s Supplemental Type Certificates which effectively serve as a barrier to entry. They don’t provide rich exceedance reports for aircraft systems and engines. They don’t allow real-time remote diagnostics to be performed on an aircraft while it is flying to understand a problem and avoid an accident. None of these technologies allow a ground operator, a pilot or an autonomous trigger to begin streaming the contents of the flight data recorder. They simply do not provide a complete picture of situational awareness like FLYHT’s technology does.