First published on 4 August 2025
Across Australia, public safety aviation professionals carry out critical missions every day: airlifting patients, suppressing bushfires, tracking suspects, patrolling borders, and responding to natural disasters. These high-stakes operations often unfold in remote, rugged, or rapidly changing environments where timely decisions save lives, property, and national resources.
Yet many of these missions are flown without continuous communication.
Whether you're flying a medical retrieval out of the red centre, a surveillance patrol along the coast, or a water bomber into active firegrounds, communication black spots still put personnel, communities, and outcomes at risk. Public safety aircraft often operate beyond the reach of terrestrial radio and mobile coverage, creating dangerous gaps in command, coordination, and real-time support.
Connectivity as a Safety Imperative
While military aviation has long benefited from satellite communications (SATCOM), most civilian, public, and non-profit fleets in Australia still lack access to this technology. Until recently, SATCOM was seen as a high-cost, complex solution reserved for elite platforms. But, with the rise of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite networks, like Starlink, reliable, high-bandwidth connectivity is now available to the aircraft that need it most.
This isn’t just a tech upgrade, it’s an operational safety issue.
Real-time SATCOM can support:
- Mid-mission changes and cross-agency coordination
- Secure data exchange and live video feeds
- Dynamic weather and fireground updates
- Remote clinical consultation and patient telemetry
- Increased crew situational awareness and reduced isolation
Every public safety mission depends on the right information at the right time. When seconds count, connectivity can be the difference between a seamless operation and a tragic delay.
Let’s Close the Gaps, Together
At Fire Hawk Services, we’re proud to be working with Overwatch Aero to bring FlightSat, an aviation-optimised Starlink integration, to Australia’s public safety aviation community. Our goal is simple: to make mission-critical connectivity accessible, affordable, and adaptable for a wide range of operators, including aeromedical services, emergency responders, fire authorities, police, border patrol, and defence.
We believe every public safety aircraft should have access to the tools that help them make safer, smarter decisions in the air.
Come talk with us at AFAC25
We’ll be showcasing FlightSat alongside Overwatch at the AFAC Conference 2025 in Perth this August, the southern hemisphere’s largest public safety and emergency management event. If you're attending, come find us on the expo floor. Let’s talk about the gaps you're seeing, and how we can help close them.
Or reach out directly: FlightSat@firehawkservices.com.au