The FAA plans to have a system whereby each aircraft in free flight has a satellite-linked probe that tells the pilot if another aircraft is within 20 miles.
On long-haul flights, texting and Wi-Fi access might prove more attractive than voice-calling, provided the price is right though Boeing recently axed Connexion, its impressive but little used satellite-based in-flight broadband service.
ECONOMIST: The use of mobile phones on planes moves another step closer
Pre-planning extends to knowing the physical location of the airport you fly into, too, as it relates to the city center, says Malin, who's made the mistake of choosing a cheaper flight into a satellite airport that required more transit time to reach the city center.
JetBlue offers just one class--economy--with touches like leather seats, personal satellite TV and Prada-inspired flight uniforms.
"Arianespace Flight 142 placed its dual satellite payload in a lower than desired orbit following a problem with the launcher's upper stage, " the statement said.
For RRM, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center designed a module simulating a satellite, as well as custom power tools for Dextre.
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The engine constantly throttles up and down, not only to counter the drag on the satellite from residual air molecules in near space but also to smooth the flight of the vehicle to minimise the noise in the gravity measurements.
This flight is intended to put in orbit six satellites for the Globalstar satellite phone company.
Cruise missiles have been fitted with satellite-based guidance systems making it possible to readjust their course in mid-flight and, in theory, to achieve pinpoint accuracy.
So far, therefore, the missile launch is an unambiguous win for North Korea. (Although not orbiting a satellite, all three rocket stages apparently fired, achieving Pyongyang's longest missile flight yet.) But the negative repercussions will extend far beyond Northeast Asia.
It is the 40th anniversary this October of the final Black Arrow flight from the Woomera range in Australia and the UK's abandonment of its satellite launch capability.
On a typical long-haul flight, says Mike Fitzgerald of Altobridge, a firm that makes technology to bridge satellite and cellular networks, 20 mobile phones are left switched on.
Earlier this year, the North announced it had successfully orbited a satellite, but the claim was dismissed by the US, Japan and South Korea who called the April flight a cover for a test of ballistic missile technology.
The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) has sent up a reconnaissance flight to investigate how the ash is distributed in the cloud, something that is impossible to assess from satellite imagery.
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