Page 90 - SAMENA Trends - January-February 2023

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FAA Pitches Aircraft C-Band Retrofits by Early 2024

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposed a directive into effect 24 February 2024. In a statement, the FAA described the
which would mandate passenger and cargo aircraft have C-Band- proposal as a collaboration between wireless companies, aviation
tolerant altimeters or approved filters installed by early 2024 as a stakeholders and other federal agencies including the Federal
path forward for allowing 5G services to safely coexist with the Communications Commission (FCC) to “enable the wireless
aviation industry. The airworthiness directive (AD) is similar to one companies to achieve full use of their networks while maintaining
implemented in December 2021 which prohibited flight operations public safety”. The proposal also requires aviation operators to
around C-Band wireless transmitters unless the FAA approved revise their flight manuals to prohibit low-visibility landings after
them. An FAA representative told Mobile World Live the AD would 30 June unless the retrofits have been completed. Verizon and
be open for public comment for 30 days. The new rules would go AT&T delayed the launch of 5G services on C-Band spectrum until
January 2022 after the aviation industry expressed concern about
interference with cockpit safety systems. The operators later agreed
to further delay some of their C-Band usage near airports until July
2023 to give the aviation industry more time to retrofit aircraft In
October 2022, acting FAA administrator Billy Nolen called for the
FCC to expand exclusion zones AT&T and Verizon implemented
around airports to 19 smaller mobile operators and other spectrum
holders. Trade organization Airlines for America (A4A) stated while
it supported moving forward on safety measures and mitigation
efforts related to the use of C-Band, the compliance deadline for
changing radio altimeters needed to be feasible . “A4A member
carriers are working diligently to ensure fleets are equipped with
compliant radio altimeters, but global supply chains continue to
lag behind current demand,” it stated.

Angola’s Angosat-2 Satellite Put in Operation in Orbit

The Angosat-2 Angolan telecom satellite has passed tests in orbit satellite in April 2019 when it entered the radio visibility zone, but
and has commenced operation, the Moscow-based state space finally declared it lost.
corporation Roscosmos has announced. “Following the test flight,
the satellite passed to Angola’s control to be used as intended,”
Roscosmos said. A Russian Proton-M launch vehicle coupled with
Angosat-2 blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Russia
on 12 October. Shortly after the launch of the satellite, specialists
from Angola and Moscow and Zheleznogorsk (Russia) embarked
on 23 days of post-launch activities, including several maneuvers
involving engineering principles related to orbital mechanics that
facilitated the successful placement of Angosat-2 in its final orbital
position 23E, in geostationary orbit at a distance of about 36,000
kilometers from Earth. Angosat-2 is a product of Roscosmos’
Reshetnev Satellite Information Systems based on the Express-
1000N platform of the same company. The satellite has a mass of
about 1.7 tones and a service life of 15 years. The conclusion of
the second phase of Angosat-2 tests will allow telecommunication
services, digital television and broadband Internet to be taken to
the country’s most remote areas at competitive prices. In addition,
the satellite services will cover the entire African continent, a
significant part of Southern Europe and almost total coverage of
the Southern Africa region. Angosat-2 is a replacement for the lost
Angosat-1, which was launched into orbit on 26 December 2018
and stopped transmitting telemetric data after reaching the target
orbit. Specialists from Angola and Russia tried to reanimate the

90 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2023