Six weeks after it arrived in Texas, Intelsat‘s CRJ700 test aircraft is back in Chicagoland (Gary, Indiana, to be precise) following certification of the production build Stellar Blu antenna and modem hardware installation on board. The relocation comes two weeks after the first test flight of the new configuration, and also following a second test flight of the systems.
With the return to home base it is safe to assume that Intelsat is confident it collected enough test data to complete the STC paperwork and secure approval from the Federal Aviation Administration for this installation configuration. This also creates a template from which other STCs can be developed for the installation of the production hardware on the more than 750 aircraft in Intelsat’s backlog.
Intelsat did not comment on the test flights nor the aircraft’s return to home base.
Intelsat’s Dave Bijur previously expected the certification process to begin in mid-February. Some hardware testing slipped into mid-March, delaying that process. And the two week delay for a second test flight – presumably allowing for some systems updates in the interim – is not unheard of, but also not always necessary. It does mean that development of the additional STC to support the Embraer E175 family of aircraft likely slipped a bit more.
That is the first type expected to have the hardware installed and activated for an airline, with Alaska Airlines as the launch customer. Bijur suggested in February that the Alaska planes were on target for May 2024 installation and activation. That shifted to “May/June” as of mid-March. Unless Intelsat started that installation and testing process before completing its CRJ7 work, the new target for the E75 STC will be in June; making May happen would not be possible given the timing requirements.
Installs for Air Canada and American Airlines will follow. Additional STCs will also follow for other aircraft types, including mainline planes at Aerolineas Argentinas.
The second test flight followed almost the same flight path as the first, though without the extended period at lower altitudes and without some of the sharper turns in the pattern.
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