Herndon, VA — Since its founding in 2009, Capital Sciences, LLC (CapSci) has been quietly shaping the future of aviation surveillance from the ground up — and beyond.
Capital Sciences, LLC has spent nearly two decades at the center of the FAA’s transition from traditional radar to modern ADS‑B based surveillance, growing from airport‑focused projects into supporting global systems and now back to the airport surface where that journey began. Our story is one of quietly shaping how controllers, pilots, and aviation stakeholders see and manage traffic in some of the most complex airspace in the world.
Our team built foundational expertise supporting airport surface surveillance and early ADS-B surveillance systems, helping the FAA develop the tools needed to track aircraft and ground vehicles in intricate airport environments. ADS-B or Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast is a GPS‑based surveillance technology that broadcasts an aircraft’s position, velocity, and other data in real time. Surface surveillance is deceptively challenging: runways are dynamic, GPS accuracy matters enormously, and the cost of error could be catastrophic. Working on such significant projects, our engineers developed the technical depth and systems engineering knowledge that forms our company’s foundation.
Going Nationwide with the FAA’s SBS Program
The FAA launched its ambitious Surveillance and Broadcast Services (SBS) Program — the nationwide deployment of ADS-B infrastructure that would fundamentally modernize U.S. air traffic control. The SBS Program replaced aging radar systems with a modern, satellite-based surveillance backbone. L3Harris was awarded the opportunity to design and deploy this nationwide network, bringing rigorous engineering to one of the most complex and consequential aviation infrastructure efforts in American history. Capital Sciences’ engineers supported the definition and implementation of end‑to‑end systems for collecting, distributing, and using surveillance data—from hardware and software architecture through requirements, integration, and sustainment. Our combined work helped transform ADS‑B from a promising concept into an operational reality that now underpins en‑route, terminal, and surface surveillance across the United States, enabling more efficient routes, better separation services, and more precise traffic management by delivering shared situational awareness.
Reaching for the Sky: The Aireon Global ADS-B System
Our company leveraged its ADS-B expertise to support Aireon as it deployed a global, space-based ADS-B surveillance system that extended real-time aircraft tracking to every ocean, polar route, and remote region on Earth. We helped in several ways, including development of situational dashboards for satellite and traffic data, system architecture decisions and on going support for development and system engineering of additional ADS-B related products. For the first time in aviation history, controllers could see aircraft anywhere on the planet, not just over land where radar coverage existed. Our contribution to this program helped take ADS-B from a mostly land based system to a real-time, worldwide view of all ADS-B equipped air traffic. Capital Sciences played a role in giving airlines and Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) global visibility that improves safety, route optimization, and fuel efficiency on long‑haul flights.
Full Circle: The SAI Program
Now, Capital Sciences has come full circle. We are focused on delivering advanced ADS-B surveillance to airport surfaces through the FAA’s Surface Awareness Initiative (SAI) program. Partnering with uAvionix, we have delivered the first Surface Situational Awareness systems to major U.S. airports—modern, scalable solutions that provide controllers and operators a clearer view of the airport environment. This foundational mission, where CapSci began, now uses uAvionix’s Flightline, dual-frequency ADS-B receivers, and scalable cloud infrastructure to deliver a fast, low-impact, and cost effective surface safety solution to airports across the country.
From runway to the entire globe and back again — Capital Sciences continues to do what it has always done: solve hard problems in aviation surveillance with passion.