With December 25 in just two days, modern technology is set to bring festive cheer by allowing eager children and adults alike to track Santa Claus as he embarks on his global gift-giving journey.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is renowned for its year-round vigilance over the skies of Canada and the United States.
But on Christmas Eve, NORAD undertakes an extra special task: tracking Santa’s sleigh as it flys over the globe, ensuring that every present is under the tree come the big day.
Both youngsters and the young at heart can monitor Santa’s voyage from country to country via the NORAD Santa Tracker website.
Its North Warning System, a radar network with 47 installations across northern Canada and Alaska, is instrumental in this process.
Once Santa departs from the North Pole, NORAD employs specialised defence satellites for tracking.
Alternatively, eager children can watch Father Christmas’s journey on Santa Update – the first and longest running Santa tracker – or Flight Radar.
Santa Tracker even gives you the opportunity to text or call the man himself. Parents can also let Santa know if they kids are still awake and need him to come a bit later to give them time to get to sleep.
Flight radar uses its usual mix of terrestrial and satellite-based ADS-B coverage as well as « a bit of special Christmas magic » to track Father Christmas.
Santa’s journey typically begins in the Republic of Kiribati, a cluster of tropical islands in the South Pacific.
From there, he heads westward, delivering gifts to children in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Asia, Africa, Western Europe, Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Central and South America.
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