Aviation
In 2009, Air France Flight 447 was on a regularly scheduled flight to Rio de Janeiro when it stalled. The aircraft did not recover and plummeted into the Atlantic Ocean. It took 5 days to locate the wreckage and nearly 2 years to find the black boxes.
In 2014, Malaysia Airlines 370 disappeared somewhere over the Indian Ocean. Still one of the biggest mysteries in modern aviation, the years-long search was suspended in 2018 and 239 passengers and crew were declared lost at sea.
In response to these tragedies, Spire decided to augment current nanosatellite capabilities with ADS-B signal tracking. Spire’s first nanosatellites equipped with ADS-B sensors were launched in May 2018, and all new LEMUR satellites have this capability. With a full constellation, Spire will have the ability to track every aircraft anywhere in the world, across even the most remote regions.
The future of coverage is in space, where there are no limits or boundaries to detecting signals
As more people fly more frequently, and with localized, expensive-to-maintain ground-based radar systems being phased out in remote regions, Spire’s data feeds and APIs enable the safe expansion and optimization of the increased flow of aircraft in the skies. Spire provides global and local situational awareness without the low altitude - line of sight - constraints and sector boundaries of traditional radar systems.
With coverage over poles, oceans, and radar-blind land masses, Spire’s data provides early and accurate warnings of unexpected route deviation. Using rich, global ADS-B data insights, new opportunities for profitable routes can be quickly identified and commercialized.
Utilizing existing standards, Spire’s AirSafe utilizes Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) technology that is already integrated into most aircraft.
The International Civil Aviation Organization mandates that aircraft traveling over oceanic areas report their latitude, longitude, altitude, and time every 15 minutes. To support these standards, space-based surveillance is the only option.
For airlines, aircraft, and airport operators and partners, Spire’s ADS-B and weather data stream API lets customers optimize the operational profitability and environmental efficiency of individual and collective aircraft journeys across their network.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.