Aireon and Airways New Zealand to improve operations in South Pacific
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To provide safe, efficient and low-cost air navigation services.
Under the terms of this agreement, Airways New Zealand and Aireon will work together to investigate and potentially develop applicable regulations, standards and procedures for space-based ADS-B surveillance in the New Zealand Domestic Flight Information Region (FIR) and the oceanic Auckland FIR.
The investigation will also involve a concept of operations for 100 percent surveillance coverage over remote, terrestrial and oceanic regions in both FIRs and international harmonization with neighboring ANSPs.
In addition to signing an MOU with Airways New Zealand, Aireon is building its customer base while also making major technical milestones and accomplishments. Aireon recently announced that its investor and partner, Iridium Communications Inc., has completed the first successful integration of the AireonSM payload on an Iridium NEXT satellite.
This is a key technical milestone toward the first launch of Iridium NEXT and the first demonstration of the Aireon air traffic surveillance capability. Iridium NEXT is scheduled to launch between 2015 and 2017, with full Aireon service expected to be available in 2018. ■