Description: Current ADS-B equipment used for aviation cannot handle the environments presented by spaceflight, nor the dynamic loads caused by re-entry. Researchers seek to address this shortcoming by leveraging existing, flight-proven 1,090 MHz Extended Squitter (1090ES) technology and operational FAA infrastructure to integrate commercial space vehicles with other users as they operate in the National Airspace System (NAS). Testing aims to demonstrate operation during reusable launch vehicle flight.

Benefits: • Market-expanding: Stands to increase availability of NAS to more users
• Established: Leverages flight-proven 1090ES ADS-B technology
• Evaluative: Investigates the capability of Aireon’s low-Earth orbit (LEO) Iridium constellation for sRLV tracking