A New Era of Global Aircraft Surveillance is on the Horizon
Press release from Aireon: A New Era of Global Aircraft Surveillance is on the Horizon as Aireon Completes System Deployment
A successful final Iridium® NEXT launch delivered the remaining 10 AireonSM payloads to orbit
MCLEAN, Va. – January 11, 2019 – Aireon announced today a successful eighth and final launch and deployment of the Iridium NEXT satellite constellation hosting the Aireon space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) payloads. At 7:31:33 AM PST (15:31:33 UTC) a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and placed the final 10 Iridium NEXT satellites into low earth orbit (LEO). This launch brought the total number of Aireon payloads in orbit to 75 (66 operational payloads and 9 spares), completing the historic launch program and passing one of the last remaining milestones before Aireon ushers in a new era of global air traffic surveillance and aircraft tracking.