ATC
FAA to add third WAAS satellite
The FAA awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin last month that will add a third leased geostationary satellite to the two existing satellites used for the w

The FAA awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin last month that will add a third leased geostationary satellite to the two existing satellites used for the wide-area augmentation system (WAAS). Acquisition of a third satellite follows a recommendation from an independent review board study that concluded it was too risky to depend on only two satellites for the availability of the WAAS signal.

This third geostationary satellite is needed to ensure that a single geostationary failure does not cause large-scale outages of service over the U.S. With the augmented GPS navigation signal, WAAS enables access to low-altitude en route airspace without a required backup and will eventually allow vertically guided approaches to many airports around the country.

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