6G and aviation: connectivity, spectrum and safety
How aircraft communicate today, what 6G really is, why spectrum next door matters to safety, and how satellites, drones, cabins, security rules and suppliers fit together, with what is in force, what is proposed and what is only claimed kept clearly apart.
What you will be able to do
- ✓ Describe the voice, data link and satellite systems that carry aviation communications today, and the ICAO and EU rules behind them
- ✓ Explain what 6G is in official terms: the ITU-R IMT-2030 framework (Recommendation ITU-R M.2160) and the 3GPP Release 20 and 21 timetable
- ✓ Use the 5G C-band and radio altimeter case to explain spectrum coexistence, the FAA directives and 2026 rule, EASA and GACA guidance, and the WRC-23 and WRC-27 items aviation watches
- ✓ Explain non-terrestrial networks, satellite direct-to-device service and drone connectivity under U-space (Regulation (EU) 2021/664) and the ICAO C2 link standards
- ✓ Set out the rules for cabin connectivity and the information security and safety assurance of connected aircraft, including Part-IS and AMC 20-42
- ✓ Trace the equipment supply chain and certification path, and sort trends into in force, proposed, research and vendor claim, each with a date
Course content
Session 1 · How aviation communicates today
1.1
- Voice on VHF: the party line in the sky · free preview
- Data link: text instead of talk
- Satellites and ground networks
- Worked example: how far a VHF call reaches
Session 2 · From 1G to 6G: what the generations mean
1.2
- Five generations in forty years
- IMT-2030: the official definition of 6G
- Who writes 6G, and when
- Worked example: timing a data link message
Session 3 · Spectrum and coexistence: the radio altimeter lesson
1.3
- What happened with 5G C-band
- The 2026 rules: Canada, the upper C-band and a new standard
- Europe, the Gulf and the world radio conferences
- Worked example: measuring the gap to the radio altimeter band
Session 4 · Satellites, direct-to-device and drones
1.4
- Non-terrestrial networks: mobile technology goes to space
- Direct-to-device: phones talking to satellites
- Drones and U-space: when connectivity is the safety service
- Worked example: how long a signal takes via satellite
Session 5 · Cabin connectivity and the security of connected aircraft
1.5
- Connectivity in the cabin
- Information security: the rules now in force
- Safety assurance: keeping the aircraft domains apart
- Worked example: deciding what may cross a domain boundary
Session 6 · Supply chain, certification and what to watch
1.6
- Certifying the boxes: standards, TSOs and installation
- Who supplies the connected aircraft
- What to watch to 2030, without the hype
- From the investigation file: false readings from a radio altimeter
Who this course is for
Course content © Aerospace Garage Limited. All rights reserved.