Originally Posted by Rochard

I think you are right. I have a friend who works for Intel he tells me there is a five year lead time from concept to deployment.

In this case I can just imagine how it would go... Sounds simple, right? Stream information to a satellite. Easy. But if you start at the very beginning - what data to send - everyone is going to disagree. For example, air speed - should they transmit that data, and why? Should that data come from the sensor on the bottom of the aircraft or from computers in the cockpit. Which would be more accurate, and which would be subject to failure more than the other? Then we'll need something to power the system that will track the air speed, and a method to transmit it? Is it as simple as running a wire from the cockpit to a cabinet in the back of the plane? If so, what kind of wire would they use? Then who would have access to this cabinet.

Get my point?