ADS-B in space: Decoder implementation and first results from the GATOSS mission

Abstract

ADS-B is increasingly used for air traffic control in areas covered by terrestrial receivers; however, its limited range makes it unsuitable for other areas such as the oceans. To overcome this limitation, it has been proposed to receive ADS-B signals from low earth orbit nano-satellites and relay them to the terrestrial receivers. This paper gives an overview of the GATOSS mission and of its highly-sensitive ADS-B software-defined radio receiver payload. Details of the design and implementation of the receiver's decoder are introduced. The first real-life, space-based results show that ADS-B signals are indeed successfully received in space and retransmitted to a terrestrial station by the GATOSS nano-satellite orbiting at 700+ km altitudes, thus showing that GATOSS is capable of tracking flights, including transoceanic ones, from space.