AVIATION TECHNOLOGY

Flight Safety Foundation Calls for Accelerating Safety Solutions for 5G Rollout

Flight Safety Foundation | January 20, 2022

Aviation News
Flight Safety Foundation is concerned about the continuing confusion surrounding implementation of expanded 5G services in the United States and the disjointed approach taken to resolving potentially significant aviation safety issues.

The Foundation urges the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and wireless carriers to cooperate to definitively identify which U.S. airports are affected by the implementation of 5G in the C-Band so that accurate and timely guidance on operational restrictions is made available to aircraft operators. In addition, the Foundation calls for accelerating the process of identifying which aircraft types are approved to perform low-visibility landings at airports where C-Band 5G has been deployed.

"Safe airline operations rely on clear and unambiguous regulations so that aircraft can be safely dispatched, and crews can safely operate aircraft to their intended destinations, The unclear and sometimes conflicting restrictions and notices on 5G near airports are creating confusion globally and have led to disruptions and cancellations of hundreds of flights. It is imperative to expedite mitigations and approvals, clearing as many aircraft as possible to operate without restriction at airports."

- Capt. Conor Nolan, chairman of the Foundation's Board of Governors.

The rollout of 5G also affects more than large airports and air carriers. Restrictions on regional aircraft types affect smaller community airports that rely on regional airlines to transport millions of passengers a year. Helicopter operations for emergency medical services are also affected, limiting the transport of patients and medical staff.

"The greater the confusion and uncertainty, the greater the risk to safety, The process of resolving or mitigating the safety risks needs to be accelerated and not allowed to drag on for months."

- Foundation President and CEO Dr. Hassan Shahidi.

About Flight Safety Foundation
Flight Safety Foundation is an independent, nonprofit, international organization engaged in research, education and communications to improve aviation safety. The Foundation's mission is to connect, influence and lead global aviation safety.

Spotlight

Airbus has announced that the entry into service date for its A350 freighter has slipped one year into 2026. Let's explore the aircraft, delays, Airbus' first quarter results and how the industry continues to face pressures that mean the plane maker is not achieving exactly what they'd hoped for.

Spotlight

Airbus has announced that the entry into service date for its A350 freighter has slipped one year into 2026. Let's explore the aircraft, delays, Airbus' first quarter results and how the industry continues to face pressures that mean the plane maker is not achieving exactly what they'd hoped for.

Related News

AIR TRANSPORT

Umbra and Ursa Space Empower Global Market with Advanced SAR Analytics through Strategic Partnership

PRnewswire | May 19, 2023

Ursa Space Systems, a leader in satellite intelligence, and Umbra, a leader in advanced space radar technology, today jointly announced that they are partnering to bring advanced synthetic aperture radar (SAR) analytics to a global market through Ursa's suite of subscription and custom intelligence products. The two companies first teamed up to serve customers in late 2022 when Umbra initially began offering high-resolution SAR imagery for commercial use, and Ursa signed on as its first commercial customer. Umbra data has played an integral role in several of Ursa's core global monitoring capabilities, including global oil storage assessment and vessel detection. Ursa is also using Umbra's data to provide their customers with flood analytics — which are critically important to provide situational awareness for emergency responders on the ground. Flood data is also being used by Ursa customers to speed up the insurance claim process for those impacted by severe weather events. "Umbra's high-resolution data allows for more accurate analysis, and by offering data with a wide range of processing levels, they enable development and evaluation of advanced analytics and techniques that wouldn't otherwise be possible," said Eric Cote, Director of Geospatial Partnerships, Ursa Space Systems. Ursa cited data quality, API maturity and documentation, and open licensing as primary reasons why they chose to partner with Umbra. The data provided by Umbra adds additional capacity to Ursa's Virtual Constellation, the world's largest database of satellite imagery from the most-trusted SAR, optical, and Radio Frequency data vendors around the globe. Ursa also credits Umbra's Compensated Phase History Data (CPHD) for providing an even more raw form of the data than is typically provided by other vendors, giving Ursa the ability to develop novel derived products through ongoing research and development efforts. Umbra satellites are equipped with a powerful SAR payload, capable of seeing both day and night and through all weather conditions. The satellites enjoy an uncommonly large field of regard, which enables them to collect an unprecedented volume of images over densely clustered targets in high-demand areas. "Ursa has been on the forefront of multi-INT products; their platform and insights are incredible," said Gabe Dominocielo, Umbra's co-founder and president. "Ursa is truly a mission partner for us." Umbra is supporting a growing number of inspiring and innovative organizations monitoring the Earth in unprecedented fidelity. Umbra's data can identify and monitor surface-level changes globally and be used for a variety of efforts including remote wildlife habitat protection, pollution and plastic waste tracking, oil spill detection, military intelligence gathering, live flooding estimation during storms and more. Ursa Space leverages the world's most comprehensive and progressive virtual constellation from multiple commercial sources and advanced data fusion capabilities, providing insights into physical changes on Earth. Ursa's platform orchestrates satellite imagery and analytic services at scale, to rapidly deliver to customers insights when needed. About Umbra Umbra is a technology company that offers intelligence data as a service to commercial and government customers. Our cutting-edge products help customers solve complex business and security challenges. Umbra is a U.S.-owned and operated company headquartered in Santa Barbara, California, and has a presence in Austin, Texas, and Washington, D.C. About Ursa Space Ursa Space is a global satellite intelligence infrastructure company that provides business and government decision-makers access to on-demand analytic solutions. Through our radar satellite network and data fusion expertise, Ursa Space detects real-time changes in the physical world to expand transparency. Our subscription and custom services enable you to access satellite imagery and analytic results with no geographic, political, or weather-related limitations.

Read More

AEROSPACE

Momentus and Axient to Collaborate on Space Services from Low-Earth Orbit to Cislunar Space

Businesswire | June 02, 2023

Momentus Inc. ("Momentus" or the "Company"), a U.S. commercial space company that offers orbital transportation and in-space infrastructure services, and Axient LLC (“Axient”), a key player in the U.S. civil, commercial, and national security space markets, have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on technologies and capabilities to serve customers from Low-Earth Orbit to Cislunar space. The two companies will work together to propose and develop capabilities to address a wide variety of space activities such as, but not limited to, launch services, space communication, space domain awareness, precision navigation and timing, and related technologies to utilize in, from, or through the Low-Earth Orbit, Geostationary Transfer Orbit, Geostationary Orbit, and Cislunar domains. “Axient is a well-established company with a strong track record in defense and classified missions working for the Defense Department, including the Air Force Research Labs as well as NASA,” said Momentus Chief Executive Officer John Rood. “A priority activity we’ll be exploring is how Momentus can support assembly, integration and test of payloads, including classified payloads, with Momentus’ Vigoride Orbital Service Vehicle. We see competitive advantages in our collaboration and the joint solutions our teams can bring to the government and commercial markets.” “We are looking forward to working with Momentus and furthering the utilization of their Vigoride platform. Their agile bus construction and additive technology, paired with our deep capability in spacecraft assembly, integration and test, enable us to deliver commercial and government solutions together across multi-domains,” said Axient Senior Vice President of National Security and Space Systems Dan Benjamin. About Momentus Momentus is a U.S. commercial space company that offers in-space infrastructure services, including in-space transportation, hosted payloads and in-orbit services. Momentus believes it can make new ways of operating in space possible with its planned in-space transfer and service vehicles that will be powered by an innovative water plasma-based propulsion system. About Axient Axient advances defense and civil missions from aerospace to cyberspace with multi-domain test and analysis, mission engineering and operations, and advanced technologies. With over 2,200 employees, Axient is headquartered in Huntsville, AL and has provided premier services and solutions to the Federal government for over three decades. Axient’s customers include the U.S. Space Force, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, the Missile Defense Agency, NASA, and many commercial partners.

Read More

AEROSPACE

Cirium Launches the First Airline Routes Tool Based on Satellite-Based Flight Tracking

Cirium | March 21, 2023

Cirium, the aviation analytics leader, has launched the aviation industry’s first Airline Routes tool to identify actual flights flown by aircraft type.This press release features multimedia. It uses applied analytics to derive routes flown by airlines based on satellite-based flight tracking and fuses this with advanced fleet data. The new premium Routes tool is part of Ascend Profiles, a visual descriptive analytics tool which enables businesses to quickly view aircraft intelligence by airline or lessor. Businesses such as aircraft lessors, banks or aircraft manufacturers are empowered to identify the aircraft flown by route for 1,700 airlines and factor development opportunities or risk into their decision making. By leveraging satellite-based flight tracking data the tool identifies what routes and aircraft airlines actually flew rather than what they planned to fly providing the most accurate flight completion picture. Kevin Hightower, Cirium VP of Product said: “The Airline Routes tool is the first of its kind to bring together such advanced data – the satellite-based flight tracking and the comprehensive fleet data – meaning businesses can conduct quick yet accurate due diligence on an airline portfolio. “Understanding which aircraft an airline is actually flying and on what routes is critical to identify where aircraft demand may be and whether an airline is growing or reducing their network.” India is one of the markets in the spotlight currently, as air travel is helping to boost economic growth in the region. Low-cost-carrier, IndiGo recently announced it was looking to grow its international network and further solidify its domestic operations. According to Ascend Profiles, IndiGo has a fleet of 306 aircraft – (273 in service and 33 in storage), plus 501 on order. Of the delivered fleet, 36% are on operating lease. The Routes tool shows which two-way international routes IndiGo was operating this January which it was not in January 2022. For example, 172 flights were tracked on the newly added route between Indira-Gandhi International Airport in Delhi to Tribhuvan International in Kathmandu. All operated using Airbus A320s. Additionally, the new tool shows the bi-directional routes for which IndiGo has ramped up operations. The carrier saw the most significant growth on the Singapore – Bengaluru route, where it completed 62 flights, all using A320s, this January versus only one flight, using an A321, last January. IndiGo also substantially increased its operations this year on the Dubai – Ahmedabad route, completing five times the number of flights in Jan 23 when compared with Jan 22. The Airline Routes tool is part of Ascend Profiles which visualizes aircraft intelligence of airline or lessor profiles and provides quick and accurate insights showing the latest 12-month year-over-year flights flown by an airline’s routes and can be viewed by flights, seats and ASKs. The tool is available as a web-app on desktop, tablet, and mobile. Find out more. About Cirium Cirium brings together powerful data and analytics to keep the world moving. Delivering insight, built from decades of experience in the sector, enabling travel companies, aircraft manufacturers, airports, airlines and financial institutions, among others, to make logical and informed decisions which shape the future of travel, growing revenues and enhancing customer experiences. Cirium is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. The shares of RELX PLC are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York Stock Exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX.

Read More