The Federal Aviation Administration said it is aware of Teso's claims, but said the hacking technique does not pose a threat on real flights because it does not work on certified flight hardware.

CNN: Hacker says phone app could hijack plane

"You're going to actually get a chance to actually drive flight hardware on another planet, " said Bill Nye, a children's science show host on U.S. public television and a member of Planetary Society's board, who was also present for the announcement.

CNN: Space Day 1999

"While the suite of in-flight communication hardware that we plan to launch this year will include the ability to place and receive phone calls, whether or not we actually activate voice calling depends on passenger feedback, " said airline spokesperson James Boyd.

BBC: More flights allow mobile calls

Teso told the crowd that he used flight-management hardware that he bought on eBay and publicly available flight-simulator software that contains at least some of the same computer coding as real flight software.

CNN: Hacker says phone app could hijack plane

To date, China has so far launched four unmanned space missions to test the hardware for the manned flight.

BBC: NEWS | Science/Nature | China manned space mission nears

"This year won't be a show for aircraft debuts or actual hardware that we'll be seeing for the first time, " Murdo Morrison, editor of Flight International magazine, told CNN.

CNN: Virgin Galactic spaceship to make Farnborough debut