Ataturk Airport, the main international airport serving Istanbul, and the biggest airport in Turkey by total number of passengers. Photo: Ataturk Airport.

Aireon has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Turkey’s Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP), The General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMI). The two parties are set to collaborate on space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) in Turkish airspace.

According to Aireon, Turkey intendeds to utilize space-based ADS-B to augment its current surveillance capabilities, as well as a contingency layer, in the event of an outage. DHMI will work with Aireon to develop a concept of operations for the implementation of space-based ADS-B in its airspace. DHMI also regulates and controls the airspace over the high seas within the Ankara and Istanbul Flight Information Regions (FIRs).

Aireon said it provided terminal and passenger service to more than 35 million domestic and international passengers across 55 airports in Turkey in the first three months of 2017. According to the company, DHMI controls one of the fastest growing airspaces on the European continent, with passenger traffic at an all-time high.

In June, Iridium announced the successful launch and deployment of the second batch of 10 Next satellites, carrying ADS-B payloads for Aireon. The third launch is scheduled for Oct. 4, and will increase the total number of Aireon payloads in orbit to 30. Another 45 are being prepared for space in a series of five additional launches planned over the next year.

This story was originally published in Avionics, a Via Satellite sister publication. It has been edited to better serve our audience.