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Airservices Australia and Honeywell are working together to introduce a satellite-based landing system.
Airservices Australia has contracted with Honeywell International to develop a satellite-based precision aircraft landing system, which will be marketed worldwide by the two companies.
Under the agreement, Honeywell will supply Airservices with a GBAS (ground-based augmentation system) for its larger airports and will also design a complimentary GRAS (ground-based regional augmentation system) for smaller airports used by regional airlines and general aviation aircraft. GBAS will eventually replace existing instrument landing systems at major airports, while GRAS will provide new precision approach capability at smaller ones. Airservices and Honeywell see the combination of these two systems as providing a complete seamless solution for all aircraft types in affordable modular blocks.
Airservices plans to introduce GRAS trials in Australia once its certification is completed.
The agreement calls for Honeywell to finalize software development and assist in the certification and integration of both systems over the next two years, after which Airservices and Honeywell plan to offer them commercially to airports worldwide.
While the project is aimed at providing a single gate-to-gate landing system, it also will form part of a broader strategy to introduce future air traffic management concepts.
While the Sydney trials have demonstrated the credibility of both technologies, it will still take over two years to ensure the software meets critical safety-of-life standards.
Interest and anticipation seems to be building. Support for the project has already come from the major aircraft manufacturers and international airline operators, as well as a number of countries in the Southeast Asian region.