Viasat reported its annual results Tuesday afternoon with record revenue. The company also announced a couple surprises, with a new wide-body airline customer for its inflight connectivity solution and a change of plans for its future satellite constellation.
LEO
AirFi moving forward with Atlantic Airways’ connected deployment
The AirFi LEO product could (finally) be online soon. Work with launch customer Atlantic Airways is back on track after an early setback.
Live from the CRJ550: PaxEx Update 25 Oct 2019
United’s newest aircraft type takes flight this week and the CRJ550 interior really is as special as the company has been hyping. Airbus orders and Boeing delays plus some fancy new wifi and upgraded airports on the horizon. Another busy PaxEx week.
SES, Thales, Thinkom raise the bar on inflight connectivity performance with GEO/MEO blend
Blending GEO and MEO satellites delivers a hybrid of coverage, performance, and cost that is hard to beat. SES, Thales, HughesNet, and Thinkom are on the cusp of delivering a commercially-viable solution in this space.
OneWeb, Iridium look to partner on LEO-based solutions
Iridium is taking full advantage of its Partners Conference this week to bolster its market position. Following yesterday’s announcement of a major US Department of Defense contract the company announced today a Memorandum of Understanding with LEO upstart OneWeb to see if there are synergies in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) neighborhood that could allow the two companies to grow better together rather than apart.
OneWeb plans faster inflight connectivity network
With a mission statement of “Internet access everywhere, for everyone” OneWeb has plenty of markets where it can deliver its product to excited customers. Going forward the company wants commercial aviation to be a large part of that conversation. The company is starting to talk in detail about its plans for joining the market, and its targets are significant.
PaxEx Update: 2 August 2019
A new A321LR enters service for Aer Lingus, faster security screening for United and promises of faster infilght WiFi. Plus Hulu takes flight on Delta and more! Get all the details in this week’s PaxEx Update.
Kymeta, Kepler demonstrate LEO link
Chalk up another successful test of an electronically steered antenna (ESA) against a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite. This time around the Kymeta u7 ESA repeatedly established reliable connectivity with Kepler’s two demonstration satellites.
Telesat scores major LEO commitment from Canadian government
LEO constellations are going to help revolutionize inflight connectivity, but they’re also very expensive and aviation cannot support the industry alone. Telesat scored a major investment from the Canadian government this week that helps ensure its 298 satellites will take flight.
OneWeb launches high-speed satellite production facility
How does a company get a 650 satellite constellation into operation affordably and before the earliest builds are outdated? Building two a day in a brand new facility should help. Here’s how OneWeb is making it happen.