Abstract: Satellite-based automatic dependent surveillance broadcast (ADS-B) system is a new type of aviation surveillance
technology, with an extensive application prospect in the future air traffic management system. In order to explore
the communication performance of aircraft-satellite link in satellite-based ADS-B system profoundly, a complete
aircraft-satellite link model of satellite-based ADS-B according with the international standards is built by effectively combined professional software Matlab and STK (system tool kit). The entire process of transmitting and receiving ADS-B messages are simulated through discrete event dynamic interaction. Finally, the indicators that can
reflect the communication performance of aircraft-satellite link in satellite-based ADS-B system such as possibility of identify (POI), possibility of detective (POD), signal received power, possibility of signal collision and the
coverage of satellite are obtained through statistics. The simulation results show that with the number of aircraft in
the area increases, POI and POD decrease, and the possibility of message collision increases.

Key words: satellite-based ADS-B, aircraft-satellite link, Matlab, system tool kit (STK), co-simulation