Following the endorsement of the Iris Programme by ESA Member States in June 2007, ESA established an Expert Group gathering together representatives from air navigation service providers, airspace users, regulators and other institutional experts.
The purpose of the Iris Expert Group was to address technical and programmatic open points relevant to the industrial work carried out within Phase 1, ahead of the SESAR conclusions on the subject, to allow a realistic evaluation of non-technical issues relevant for service provision via the satellite communications infrastructure.
The main motivation for creating this group was that questions dealing with operational requirements, operators of the system, certification, liability, ownership and transfer of ownership, would be better addressed in a centralised fashion by ESA rather than by the space industry alone.
“Contributions from the Iris Expert Group have been essential to help ESA understand aviation requirements and to formulate the programmatic approach of the Iris Programme,” says Nathalie Ricard, ESA coordinator of the Expert Group.
The work of the Iris Expert Group included the production of three individual notes on standardisation, certification, liability issues, dependability and safety. These items are gathered in the report, which covers the activities performed during a period lasting from mid 2007 to the end of 2008.
To download the report, or for more information, see the links located in the column to the right.
