Iris flight trial

Engineers are shown testing Iris equipment to exchange messages in real-time with a flight control facility from a Cessna plane, which took off from Amsterdam Schiphol airport and flew over the Netherlands and the North Sea for three hours to test the system’s connection.

Iris will provide a safe and secure text-based data link between pilots and air traffic control (ATC) networks using satellite technology.

The programme is developed under a public-private partnership between ESA and Inmarsat, and will help relieve pressure on the aviation sector's congested radio frequency communication channels.

It will so as part of the European Commission’s Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) masterplan to modernise Europe's air traffic management.