Originally Posted by
mm43
The timing of the AES interrogation is set by the GES software; dependent on packet traffic.
In other words, the GES polls the AES.
I stand corrected. In either case, after successful interrogations at 19:41, 20:41, 21:41 and 22:41, the gap at 23:41 is at least curious. Especially since 23:41 is middle of the night for most of the coverage area of Inmarsat 3-F1, and traffic should be at the daily low.
Although, if I'm reading the spec correctly, failure to respond to an interrogation (due to LOS or for whatever other reasons) is supposed to result in attempts to resend it every 10 seconds until either the AES comes back or it misses 5 requests. At which point it would be kicked off the table and there would be no 0:11. So maybe the satellite was just too busy. (Or maybe I have an outdated spec.)
Incidentally, do you have any idea what, if anything, other than temporary loss of power / reboot, could cause the aircraft to send 3 packets in 18:27 to 18:29 as it was turning?