In July this year, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) put out a report looking at how to create a safer aviation environment. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) looked at the differences and potential of both Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Contract (ADS-C) technologies in order to create this safer environment. Both technologies offer increased frequency in reporting of an aircraft’s location, which enhances safety and can support new minimum separation standards, the GAO report said.

The report stated that the FAA had decided to proceed with enhanced ADS-C in the near term “because the efficiency benefits to airspace users exceeded the costs of more frequent location reporting and air traffic control system upgrades by two to one.” The report stated that FAA officials added that operational challenges to using space-based ADS-B to manage air traffic in U.S. oceanic airspace have not yet been resolved. However, the FAA plans to continue studying potential uses for space-based ADS-B in U.S. airspace to determine if benefits can outweigh the costs.

Discussing the GAO report, and the FAA evaluation, Inmarsat Vice President for Safety and Security Joseph Teixeira talks to Via Satellite Editor Mark Holmes about the report and what this means for Inmarsat.

Introducing Via TV – a new video series featuring exclusive interviews from key players in the satellite industry. Via Satellite will be running Via TV video features periodically at the top of our Daily News Feed – so stay tuned!