UP F RONT
SATELLITE CITY
Major developments
happening in space are
set to vastly improve the
performance of inflight
connectivity (IFC) systems
SmartSky Networks has passed
what it calls an “important
network deployment milestone”
on its way towards beginning
commercial operations during Q2
2020. This achievement has led
to SmartSky receiving the final
US$25m of a US$75m credit
facility from BlackRock.
SmartSky’s connectivity network
is based on a novel single-beamper
aircraft approach using
proven 4G LTE and emerging 5G
technologies, for a claimed
10-times better inflight wi-fi
experience. After eight years
of development backed by
more than 140 patents and
over 1,000 hours of flight testing
(including by aircraft owners,
airlines, fleet managers and
journalists), SmartSky’s network
is progressing towards an official
launch in 2020.
In other SmartSky news,
the company has received its
150th patent supporting the
development of its advanced
air-to-ground (ATG) network
and data technologies.
aircraftinteriorsinternational.com
032 MARCH 2020
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GX5 READIES FOR LAUNCH
3
DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY PATHWAY PAYLOAD
OneWeb and
SatixFy UK are
planning to add a
digital technology
pathway payload
that will include a
full digital payload
into OneWeb’s launch schedule
during 2021. On 7 February,
OneWeb launched 34 satellites
as part of the constellation of 648
satellites, and the company says
it is on schedule to provide global
coverage to customers in 2021.
According to the two companies,
the new payload technology will
pave the way for satellites with
a higher level of flexibility to
support peaks in demand without
5
PANASONIC EXPANDS
KU-BAND CAPACITY
2
GOGO GAINS CAPACITY
Gogo has entered into a satellite capacity agreement
with satellite operator, Eutelsat, for high-speed IFC
services. As part of the multi-year agreement, Gogo has
leased HTS bandwidth on the Eutelsat 10B satellite, due for
launch in 2022 to cover the Europe and Middle East regions.
Gogo has also signed a capacity agreement on the
Amazonas Nexus satellite operated by Hispasat. The deal
sees Gogo lease multi-gigahertz of Ku-band capacity
onboard Hispasat’s new HTS, set to launch in the second
half of 2022, to provide service to the Americas and
the Atlantic region. Hispasat and Gogo have worked
together to optimise the
satellite design for inflight
connectivity. Amazonas Nexus
will feature a Digital Transparent
Processor (DTP), a technology
that Hispasat says will
“substantially increase” satellite
flexibility when dealing with
changes in demand.
4
SMARTSKY REACHES MILESTONE
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oversizing the
constellation.
The digitaltransparent
payload is designed
for full ‘beam
hopping’ capability
in the forward and return links,
and will include an onboard
processing subsystem capable of
running independent links on the
User and Gateway links on the
ground with different capacities.
Additional features include an
electronically steered multi-beam
antenna with ‘true time delay’
beam-forming that can point and
switch multiple beams to multiple
directions simultaneously.
Inmarsat’s Satellite Control
Centre (SCC) in London has
been busy guiding GX5, the fifth
satellite in the Global Xpress
fleet, towards its final on-station
location. Tests performed by
Inmarsat and the manufacturer
of the Very High Throughput
Satellite (V-HTS), Thales Alenia
Space, across the payload’s multibeam
antennas and the four
steerable antennas, are claimed
to indicate that it will deliver
more capacity
than the entire
GX1-GX4 Boeing
702HP fleet
combined. When the satellite
enters service this year, it will
meet growing demand for
connectivity across Europe and
the Middle East, particularly for
aviation and maritime services.
Over the next four years, the GX
fleet will be joined by a further
seven advanced payloads.
Panasonic has signed a multiyear
agreement for Ku-band
capacity on two multi-beam
payloads on the Eutelsat 10B
satellite, due to be launched in
2022. Panasonic expects this
contract will enable it to provide
multiple gigahertz of new extreme
throughput (XTS) Ku-band
connectivity to airlines flying
over a wide area across Europe,
Africa and the Middle East.
Eutelsat 10B will be the second
XTS satellite to join Panasonic’s
network, which supports the
provision of services such as
internet, live TV, video streaming,
VoIP, 4G mobile services scalable
to 5G, and greater bandwidth for
crew applications.
Visit the
Features section
our laserenabled
website to
of read about ‘fibre
in the sky’
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