I find it increasingly hard to believe that the plane will be found using the Inmarsat data in the public domain. There are too many unknowns in the publicly released information, and these unknowns create a myriad of potential solutions such that the search area is huge. We had a much better idea where to find AF447 and the Titanic.
I sincerely hope authorities are in possession of more information than has been released to the public.
I had always been struck by the early US government statement that the plane flew for hours and likely crashed in the Indian Ocean.
Have a look at the following:
MH370: US sends ship to Indian Ocean on new ?indication? of crash site | euronews, world news
So by 1051 (CET) on 12/3, the US was stating they had indications the plane flew on for some hours and went down in the Indian Ocean, and were already moving a USN ship. Subsequent reports confirmed these indications were the hourly satellite pings. This report would have been early in the day in the USA. The fact they had already moved a ship means they had this information for at least some hours - possibly even 11/3
http://www.inmarsat.com/news/malaysi...tails-uk-aaib/
Malaysia sates they were told (by Inmarsat) about the satellite pings on 13/3.
Now maybe Malaysia got the date wrong. Or maybe Inmarsat (UK) shared with US before Malaysia - perhaps from a concern that Malaysia was being less than completely transparent. Maybe.
Or maybe there is another explanation.
It is generally accepted satellite tracking of submarines exists. It is also accepted there is satellite monitoring for the heat signatures of ballistic missile launches (although presumably such systems would not be looking in this area). But there is plenty of satellite surveillance of the earths surface.
You also have to wonder what technology has been developed since 9/11. It is presumably possible to track a large plane by its heat signature. You would imagine there has been research into tracking aircraft, and subtracting verified flights in order to identify rogue aircraft. This would seem a sensible area to research in the post 9/11 world. Such technology would have been very useful during the many hours that MH370 kept flying.
Anyway, hopefully there is additional information available even if it is not in the public domain.