Learn — FlightGlobe

A live flight tracker shows where aircraft are right now — their position, altitude, speed and identity — drawn as moving dots on a map. Almost all of it comes from one technology: ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast), in which each aircraft works out its own position from GPS and broadcasts it on the 1090 MHz radio frequency, several times a second, for anyone with a receiver to hear.

• 📡How live flight tracking worksADS-B, the 1090 MHz broadcast, ground receivers and the state vector — the chain that turns a GPS fix in the cockpit into a dot on the map.
• ✈️Reading a single flightCallsign vs. ICAO address vs. registration, altitude and flight levels, ground speed, and the squawk codes that flag an emergency.
• 🗼Aircraft, airspace and air-traffic controlWhat controllers do, how airspace is layered and divided, and how the structure you can’t see explains the patterns you can.
• 🌫️Why flights disappear or look wrongCoverage gaps over oceans and remote areas, filtered or blocked aircraft, and data lag — the limits behind a missing or jumpy track.