AIS satellite completes one year in orbit

An experimental satellite launched by Com Dev International in April last year has successfully completed one year in orbit, validating the detection capability of the Canadian company’s space-based AIS technology.

This technology enables the tracking and monitoring of maritime traffic from pole to pole and across the globe, even in areas of high shipping density. Since its launch, the satellite, known as NTS, has now mapped global shipping traffic many times over and has provided the technical foundation for an operational system which is currently under construction. Initial operations of this will commence in 2010.

“The demonstration satellite has shown that our proprietary technology is capable of detecting and de-colliding reliably large numbers of AIS signals in the antenna field of view. The result is an ability to secure a high level of vessel detection on a global scale with the minimum number of spacecraft. This is an important performance characteristic since AIS transmissions are being sent simultaneously from literally thousands of ships that could be in the field of view of a passing satellite at any one time,” said John Keating, chief executive officer of Com Dev.

“We believe that this capability and vessel data will be of great interest to maritime authorities around the globe. For a country like Canada, with a vast coastline and an increasing interest in monitoring maritime activity in the Arctic, this technology would make it possible for the first time to keep track of ships within or approaching territorial waters.”

The success of the NTS mission represents the culmination of more than five years of focused system and technology development. NTS, a nano-satellite weighing only 8kg and orbiting every 90 minutes at an altitude of 630km in a polar sun-synchronous orbit, was launched to validate Com Dev’s advanced space-based AIS detection technology as a precursor to the deployment of a constellation of full-performance AIS satellites.

The first phase of this complete operational system is currently under construction and is expected to be launched in early 2010. It will provide a comprehensive global AIS monitoring capability to competent maritime authorities around the world. The constellation will provide near real-time information on the identity, location and movements of marine vessels that can be used to establish a traffic management system, protect sovereignty and security interests, improve maritime safety, and enhance monitoring of fisheries and the environment.

IMO requires that all ocean-going vessels, and vessels larger than 300gt, transmit AIS signals. Until now, however, the data has been collected primarily by shore-based and ship-borne receivers where range is limited to approximately 50 nautical miles. A fully operational space-based AIS system would offer unprecedented visibility into global maritime activity. MEC