By Chris Stonor
SmartSky Networks, the air-to-ground inflight connectivity provider, announced this week a collaboration with GE Aviation and Mosaic ATM to enhance Flight Management Systems (FMS) and Air Traffic Management (ATM) for Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), reports a press release.
“Conducted under a NASA Innovation Award,” says the release, “this partnership connects the airborne and cloud-based FMS to optimise airspace management while maintaining critical flight safety controls and serves as a key enabler for AAM, which promises to bring thousands more aircraft into the airspace in the coming years.”
David Claassen, CTO of SmartSky Networks, commented, “Fast access to data is central to ensuring the Advanced Air Mobility sector can safely further its operations protocols. Our work with GE Aviation and Mosaic ATM brings numerous benefits to the domain by addressing regulatory challenges, maintaining critical safety standards, and providing a force multiplier for airspace management.”
Gary Goz, Navigation Systems Product Director of GE Aviation, said, “Advanced Air Mobility FMS presents unique space, power, and processing requirements, but GE Aviation, Mosaic ATM and SmartSky Networks working together have identified ways to address these challenges by combining both airborne and cloud-based FMS systems.” Adding, “Coupled with a reliable, low latency network, we can address processing needs and still meet critical safety standards for flight control.”
A conceptualised cloud-based FMS allows air traffic controllers better real-time trajectory and airspace management planning “by expanding and optimising available data inputs and processing capabilities across a greater number of relevant sources.”
In addition, enabling traffic flow management “minimises delays and improves efficiencies required by environmental, social and governance requirements, aiding sustainability planning initiatives.” Greater accuracy of onboard FMS outputs will also be achieved through increased processing power and external inputs.
Todd Kilbourne, Senior Program Manager at Mosaic ATM, remarked, “Working with SmartSky and GE Aviation allows our development of next generation technologies and procedures for traffic management systems to be fully utilised both on the ground and in the air. Having dependable, high-speed, secure and interoperable connectivity enables the cloud-based FMS to further enhance National Airspace System (NAS) safety and improve capacity to the benefit of all users.”
David Claassen
Footnote
SmartSky Networks air-to-ground network is now available, with full CONUS coverage coming in the first half of this year. The network takes advantage of patented spectrum reuse, advanced beam-forming technologies and 60 MHz of spectrum for significantly enhanced connectivity. This enables an “office in the sky” experience with ground-breaking capacity for data transmissions both to and from the aircraft.
Mosaic ATM was formed in 2004 to progress aviation by designing and developing the systems necessary to increase air transportation capacity and efficiency while maintaining the highest possible safety, security, and sustainability levels.
For more information
