Aireon plans to leverage the Iridium Next constellation. Photo: Aireon.

Aireon announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Spanish Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP) Enaire. Through this agreement, Enaire will begin investigating the safety, efficiency and environmental benefits of deploying space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) technology in its airspace.

Enaire controls more than 2.2 million square kilometers of airspace including the Iberian Peninsula (minus Portugal), the North Atlantic, Western Mediterranean, Ceuta and Melilla, and the Canary and Balearic archipelagos. Through this airspace, Enaire manages approximately 2 million flights per year that include routes over oceanic airspace including the northern portion of the Madrid Flight Information Region (FIR) and the majority of the Canary FIR. Space-based ADS-B would for the first time offer Enaire real-time visibility for all of its airspace, even in remote and oceanic regions.

Aireon’s space-based ADS-B system is scheduled for completion in 2018, upon total deployment of the Iridium Next satellite constellation. On January 14, SpaceX launched the first 10 satellites from its West Coast launch facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Seven additional launches are scheduled to take place over the next 12 to 15 months.