On June 4, 2025, air traffic controllers in Spain’s Canary Islands engaged in a clear, uninterrupted conversation with a commercial pilot flying high above the Atlantic. While this might sound routine, it’s quite significant for flights far from land.
Over oceans, clear and instant air traffic communication is typically the exception, not the rule. Long gaps between messages force pilots onto less efficient routes and complicate traffic management over vast open skies.
Delivering a single European sky
To address these blind spots, satellite engineers, air traffic specialists, airlines, and research organizations from Spain, Portugal, and Germany collaborated on the ECHOES initiative, co-funded by the EU. This four-year project aimed to modernize Europe’s air traffic management.
Running until December 2025, ECHOES tested space-based VHF radio and satellite aircraft tracking systems (ADS-B) to improve air traffic management in oceanic and remote airspace.
“Currently aviation relies on VHF radio as the main means of communication, but there are a lot of areas in the world that lack this,” said Gabriel García, ECHOES coordinator and program manager at Startical, a Spanish public-private enterprise developing global satellite services for air navigation.
A gap over the oceans
Once planes leave the range of coastal ground stations—around 350 kilometers offshore—they disappear from radar and lose standard VHF radio contact. Communication becomes slower and less precise. High-frequency radio, used instead, experiences interference, noise, and delays. Pilots can report their position and receive instructions, but not instantly.
The communication delay can be substantial. Captain Pablo Poza, a veteran pilot, mentioned exchanges can involve gaps of up to five minutes, with urgent cases taking three minutes each way.
“If 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,” Poza explained, noting this wait adds stress and reduces response time.
Since controllers cannot continuously monitor aircraft or speak instantly with pilots, they increase separation distances. Aircraft flying over land may be 8-10 nautical miles apart, but over oceans, that distance can grow to 50 or 80 nautical miles. The system is safe but limits capacity and efficiency.
A call from orbit
ECHOES aimed to change that. Following earlier proof-of-concept work, researchers developed and launched two small satellites into low Earth orbit in 2025. Weighing 35 and 100 kilograms, the satellites carry VHF antennas capable of relaying voice and data signals.
“Space technology has evolved, and miniaturization and lower satellite launcher costs have made this VHF provision realistic,” García said.
The small satellites orbit between 160 and 2,000 km. This proximity helps reduce time delay and keep VHF communications clear.
The breakthrough occurred when real-time VHF data communications from space were successfully demonstrated. In essence, aircraft could communicate via satellite as they would over land, and send/receive operational data messages through space.
After that first interaction, ECHOES conducted further trials with planes from several airlines over the Atlantic, proving that space-based VHF can complement ground systems and satellite-based tracking, providing continuous coverage in oceanic airspace.
For pilots, the experience felt reassuringly familiar. “We just talked to them as we normally do with ground-based VHF stations,” Poza said after tests. “I did not notice any difference. What I noticed was that it was normal.” That normality is the goal.
Safer skies, greener flights
With space-based VHF communication proven, the next step is global expansion. A worldwide service would require around 300 satellites, García said.
Reliable satellite links could enable real-time route adjustments in response to weather, turbulence, or congestion.
“If 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,” Poza said.
Aircraft could take more direct routes, cutting fuel use and emissions. Better communication would allow more aircraft to use busy oceanic corridors safely, increasing airspace capacity.
“Worldwide VHF communication via satellite changes how pilots and air traffic controllers stay connected,” Poza said.
“By extending VHF coverage from space, we can ensure continuous standardized communication, improving safety by reducing delay and providing reliable two-way communication.”
If scaled up, the system could ensure mid-Atlantic aircraft are as connected as those over Europe’s busiest skies, turning communication gaps into a seamless global network.
By bringing standard VHF into orbit, Europe’s aviation innovators demonstrate how space technology can transform flying, making long-haul journeys safer, more efficient, and environmentally friendly.
- The article has been amended to correct the weight of the satellites.
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