{"id":3450,"date":"2026-03-18T04:51:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T04:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/?p=3450"},"modified":"2026-03-18T04:51:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T04:51:08","slug":"researchers-turn-ocean-dead-zones-into-talking-skies-for-pilots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/3450\/researchers-turn-ocean-dead-zones-into-talking-skies-for-pilots\/","title":{"rendered":"Researchers turn ocean dead zones into talking skies for pilots"},"content":{"rendered":"

Researchers are developing satellite links that bring clear, real-time radio and data connections to flights over oceans, helping air traffic controllers keep routes safer and more efficient.<\/p>\n

By Michael Allen<\/p>\n

On 4 June 2025, air traffic controllers in Spain\u2019s Canary Islands held a clear, uninterrupted conversation with a commercial pilot flying high above the Atlantic.<\/p>\n

To most people, that might sound routine. For flights far from land, it is anything but.<\/p>\n

Over oceans, clear and instant air traffic communication is still the exception rather than the rule. Instead, long gaps between messages force pilots\u00a0onto less efficient routes and make it harder to manage traffic over\u00a0vast stretches of open sky.<\/p>\n

Delivering a single European sky<\/strong><\/p>\n

To tackle these communication and surveillance blind spots, a cross-border team of satellite engineers, air traffic specialists, airlines and research organisations from Spain, Portugal and Germany joined forces in a four-year EU-co-funded initiative called ECHOES.<\/p>\n

The team set out to modernise Europe\u2019s air traffic management.<\/p>\n

Running until December 2025, this initiative tested space-based very high frequency (VHF) radio and satellite aircraft tracking systems (ADS-B) to improve air traffic management in oceanic and remote airspace.<\/p>\n

\u201cCurrently aviation relies on VHF radio as the main means of communication, but there are a lot of areas in the world that lack this,\u201d explained Gabriel Garc\u00eda, ECHOES coordinator and programme manager at Startical, a Spanish public-private enterprise developing global satellite services for air navigation.<\/p>\n

A gap over the oceans<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once planes leave the range of coastal ground stations \u2013 typically around 350 kilometres offshore \u2013 they disappear from radar and lose standard VHF radio contact. From that point on, communication becomes slower, patchier and less precise.<\/p>\n

Instead, communication switches to older high-frequency radio, where transmissions are often affected by interference, background noise and delays. Pilots can still report their position and receive instructions, but not instantly.<\/p>\n

The communication delay can be significant. Captain Pablo Poza, a veteran pilot flying transatlantic routes, said exchanges between pilots and controllers over oceans can involve gaps of up to five minutes, and in urgent cases, three minutes each way.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I have any kind of problem when flying over the ocean and I have something to tell the control, their answer could take up to six minutes,\u201d Poza said.<\/p>\n

The wait, he explained, adds stress and reduces the time available to respond if something goes wrong.<\/p>\n

Because controllers cannot continuously monitor aircraft with radar or speak instantly with pilots, they compensate by increasing separation distances. Over land, aircraft may fly 8 to 10 nautical miles apart.<\/p>\n

Over oceans, that can expand to 50 or even 80 nautical miles. The system is safe, but it limits capacity and efficiency.<\/p>\n

A call from orbit<\/strong><\/p>\n

The ECHOES team set out to change that. Building on earlier proof-of-concept work, the researchers developed and launched two small satellites into low Earth orbit in 2025.<\/p>\n

The satellites \u2013 the first one weighing around 35 kilograms and the second around 100 kilograms \u2013 carry VHF antennas capable of relaying the same voice and data signals aircraft already use to communicate with ground stations.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpace technology has evolved, and miniaturisation and the lower costs of satellite launchers have made this VHF provision realistic,\u201d Garc\u00eda said.<\/p>\n

The small satellites sit in low Earth orbit (altitudes between 160 and 2 000 km). This proximity to Earth and aircraft flight paths helps reduce time delay and keep VHF communications clear.<\/p>\n

The breakthrough came when researchers successfully demonstrated, for the first time, real-time VHF data communications from space. In simple terms, they proved that aircraft could not only talk via satellite as they normally would over land, but also send and receive operational data messages through space.<\/p>\n

After that first conversation, the ECHOES team ran further successful trials with planes from several airlines flying over the Atlantic between Europe and the Americas.\u00a0These demonstrated that space-based VHF can work alongside ground systems and satellite-based aircraft tracking to provide continuous coverage in oceanic airspace.<\/p>\n

For pilots, the experience felt reassuringly familiar. \u201cWe just talked to them as we normally do with ground-based VHF stations,\u201d Poza said after participating in the tests. \u201cI did not notice any difference. What I noticed was that it was normal.\u201d<\/p>\n

That normality is precisely the point.<\/p>\n

Safer skies, greener flights<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now that the ECHOES team has shown that space-based VHF communication works, the next step is to expand it worldwide. A truly global service would need many more satellites.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo have continuous, global coverage, we have calculated that we would need around 300 satellites,\u201d Garc\u00eda said.<\/p>\n

Reliable satellite links\u00a0could let pilots adjust routes in real time in response to weather, turbulence or congestion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we could communicate with air traffic control continuously and they could ask other pilots for reports, that would improve feedback about what is happening around us,\u201d Poza said.<\/p>\n

Aircraft could fly more direct routes, cutting fuel use and emissions. Better communication would also allow more aircraft to safely use busy oceanic corridors, increasing airspace capacity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorldwide VHF communication via satellite changes how pilots and air traffic controllers stay connected,\u201d Poza said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy extending VHF coverage from space we can ensure continuous standardised communication. That improves safety by reducing delay and giving pilots reliable two\u2011way communication.\u201d<\/p>\n

If scaled up, the system could ensure that aircraft over the mid-Atlantic are as connected as those flying above Europe\u2019s busiest skies, turning today\u2019s communication gaps into a seamless global network.<\/p>\n

By bringing standard VHF into orbit, Europe\u2019s aviation innovators are showing how space technology can quietly transform everyday flying \u2013 making long-haul journeys safer, more efficient and better for the planet.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published\u202fin <\/em>Horizon<\/em><\/a>, the EU Research and Innovation Magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n

More info:<\/strong><\/p>\n