Aviation fundamentals
How Flight Tracking Works
A flight tracker is not a single sensor watching every airplane. Public tracking experiences combine aircraft broadcasts, surveillance networks, schedules, and provider processing to create a useful view of a flight.
By TransitSatellite · Reviewed October 20, 2026
The aircraft determines its position
Modern aircraft can use satellite navigation and other onboard navigation systems to determine position. That position can become part of an ADS-B Out broadcast along with altitude, ground speed, identification, and other information.
The GPS satellites are not following the aircraft. They transmit navigation signals; the aircraft receiver uses those signals to calculate its own position.
ADS-B broadcasts the report
The FAA describes ADS-B Out as a broadcast from the aircraft to ground stations and other aircraft. Position-related information can be transmitted about once per second, which is much faster than many traditional radar update cycles.
A public website still needs receiving infrastructure and data-processing systems before that information becomes a marker on a consumer map.
Flight status is a separate problem
A moving aircraft marker does not by itself tell you whether a gate changed, a flight was cancelled, or a connection will be protected. Those details come from operational flight-status and schedule sources.
That is why TransitSatellite separates aircraft position concepts from passenger flight-status information.
Common questions
Does GPS send an aircraft position to a flight tracker?
Not directly. GPS provides navigation signals. The aircraft calculates its position, and systems such as ADS-B can broadcast position information to receivers.
Why can two flight trackers show slightly different positions?
Providers can use different receiver networks, processing rules, update timing, filtering, and supplemental data sources.
Sources
Flight tracker search
Start with a flight number or route and open the current tracking source.
Search flightsTransportation globe
See the airport layer on the existing TransitSatellite 3D globe.
Open globe