NASA's space radio system can track flights worldwide

NASA's new space-based radio system can track aircraft in real time across the globe, an advance that could make air travel safer and ensure that flights can be quickly located in case of mishaps.

NASA's powerful radio communications network allows us to receive data such as pictures of cryovolcanoes on Pluto - or tweets from astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

However, to send larger quantities of data back and forth faster, NASA engineers wanted higher-frequency radios that can be reprogrammed from a distance using software updates.

"A reconfigurable radio lets engineers change how the radio works throughout the life of any space mission," said Thomas Kacpura, Advanced Communications Programme manager at NASA's Glenn Research Centre in the US.

"It can also be upgraded to work better with future missions or to enhance performance, just by adding new software," said Kacpura.

NASA worked with US-based technology company Harris Corporation to design and develop a new reconfigurable, higher-bandwidth radio.

The radios will be used to create the first space-based global air traffic control system.

For decades, airplanes have relied on radar surveillance via land-based radar stations. That is left huge gaps - particularly over oceans - where air traffic controllers have no real-time information.