Anuvu continues to move forward on its path to delivering a multi-orbit, Ka-band inflight connectivity solution. The company announced successful in-flight testing of its Dual Panel Satellite Antenna Assembly (DPSAA) Ka-band antenna this week at Aircraft Interiors Expo 2024 in Hamburg.
As airlines continue to invest in connectivity, they need a system that will take them from today’s GEO networks to tomorrow’s multi-orbit networks. The DPSAA allows airlines to choose a connectivity option that provides the most efficient inflight performance today while maintaining fully forward compatibility with non-geostationary networks, saving cost and downtime.
– Mike Pigott, EVP Connectivity at Anuvu
Developed as part of Anuvu’s “Bridge to LEO” strategy, the DPSAA is designed to efficiently serve today’s GEO constellations. It also promises a future-proof pathway to support of Ka-band LEO constellations when they enter service in the years ahead. Anuvu expects to make significant use of the Telesat Lightspeed constellation when it comes online.
Announced in October 2022, Anuvu’s DPSAA promises increased capacity to the aircraft with a unique, dual-panel design under the radome. A second, receive-only aperture boosts capacity to the aircraft. Mike Pigott, Anuvu’s EVP Connectivity explains, “There are certain flight paths where we would love to have more surface area for receive. And that’s what the second panel does. It is a very innovative, low incremental weight add-on to our first generation antenna. And we get a great increase in performance.” The latest testing validated the unique RF parameters of the design, including phase matching across the dual panel architecture.
Read more: Anuvu boosts Ka-band connectivity with dual panel antenna
The double panel on the DPSAA dramatically increases the performance of the Anuvu Ka-band product line. Extra aperture surface area does that quite nicely. But that’s not the only thing that the company sees as compelling about the product. Pigott is also keen on performance of the terminal at low elevation angles, “because our gimbaled antenna will point directly at the satellite.” This is potentially more compelling for the LEO satellites, as the system can maintain throughput even during the rising and setting phases of the LEOs. Given the relatively smaller number of satellites in Telesat‘s Lightspeed architecture, tracking further to the horizon will be a key part of that implementation.
The DPSAA is manufactured by QEST. It operates within the same motion envelope as the first generation design, providing airlines an easy upgrade path with the same on-board footprint.
The second generation model follows on successful testing of the prior model against the Telesat Lightspeed LEO test satellite in 2018. Anuvu expects further testing of DPSAA on both GEO and LEO in the months ahead.
More news from Aircraft Interiors Expo 2024
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- AIX Preview: New IFE ideas set to fly
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- Anuvu validates dual-panel Ka-band antenna with in-flight testing
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- Condor taps Intelsat for inflight internet
- Intelsat, JAL partner on LEO/GEO connectivity
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- Dropping out of the IFE race
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- SES Open Orbits brings multi-constellation, multi-orbit Ka-band connectivity together on a global scale
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- AirBaltic takes Pratt to task for engine issues
- ESAs, China, and the future of inflight connectivity
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