Tracking aircraft in flight from orbit

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Proba-V tracking aircraft in flight from orbit

13 June 2013 ESA’s Proba-V has become the first satellite to pick up aircraft tracking signals, allowing aircraft across the globe to be followed in flight from space.

“We have succeeded in proving that these relatively low-powered air traffic control signals can indeed be detected from space as they are, without any need for upgraded aircraft equipment,” explained Toni Delovski of the DLR German Aerospace Center, overseeing the experiment.

“Now we want to go on and check how many aircraft we can actually observe in practice, and which types – different sized aircraft being assigned systems with differing signal strengths.

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