Demonstration and evaluation of ADS-B technology for commercial space operations onboard reusable sub-orbital launch vehicles

To enhance the flexibility and responsiveness of commercial space operations, improved surveillance techniques are required to track the ascent and descent of a space vehicle through the national airspace system. In this paper, a prototype UAT Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (or ADS-B) transmitter developed by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University for research purposes is presented. The past flight history and design of this prototype is briefly discussed. Next, the experimental results of a flight onboard a commercial reusable launch vehicle (RLV) that functions similar to a sounding rocket is presented and analyzed. The paper concludes with a discussion of possible future work in adapting ADS-B to support commercial space operations for not just reusable launch vehicles, but other commercial space transportation vehicles as well.