New weather data system will slash number of delayed and canceled flights
Staff Writer |
Raytheon Company launched its GEO 6 satellite payload into orbit for its 12 year mission.
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It is the latest payload to support the Federal Aviation Administration's Wide Area Augmentation System which enhances the reliability and accuracy of Global Positioning System signals for directing air travel.
The Raytheon-developed payload is a key element of the WAAS System, which offers commercial, business, and general aviation pilots more direct flight paths, greater runway capability and precision approaches to airports and remote landing sites without dependence on local ground-based landing systems.
"This latest payload launch is the next step in our journey with the FAA to bolster navigation safety and efficiency for commercial and general aviation," said Bob Delorge, vice president Transportation and Support Services, Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services.
In June 2016, Raytheon launched WAAS GEO 5 which was recently accepted by the FAA for integration into the operational WAAS system.
Both WAAS GEO 5 and GEO 6 were launched to replace aging satellites and enhance GPS precision for the FAA.
WAAS increases GPS accuracy from 10 meters to approximately two meters and supports nearly all of the national airspace.
The WAAS GEO 6 payload is hosted on a geostationary satellite, SES-15, owned and operated by SES.
The satellite was successfully launched from Arianespace's Guiana Space Center in French Guiana aboard a Soyuz launch vehicle.
Air traffic controllers currently use weather information that can be anywhere from five to 10 minutes old. NWP will provide weather product update rates of 25 seconds or less, and provide aviation-specific weather predictions that are out to eight hours.
The FAA will deploy NWP to two central facilities, 34 terminal radar approach control facilities, air route traffic control center facilities, three center-radar approach control facilities, numerous air traffic control towers and the Air Traffic Control System Command Center.
The first site will go online in early 2019, with all of the installations complete by 2021. ■