Viasat will install its inflight internet solution across more than 1,000 planes for Delta Air Lines as part of an updated agreement between the two companies. The deal includes all active aircraft in its Airbus A330, Airbus A350, and Boeing 767 fleets.
Satellite
Removing inflight connectivity friction, and maybe creating another problem along the way
Step on board a plane flying with the SpaceX Starlink satellite network and you’re online immdiately. There’s no capture portal, no extra clicks. And that approach may also limit Starlink’s reach into the market, in a somewhat unexpected way.
Starlink shines on JSX
Of course it works; this was a media demo flight, after all. But the fact that the Starlink internet service works so well on the JSX fleet was never a sure thing; the program had a few hiccups along the way. But the overall performance was impressive, and in a couple ways that were true differentiators from competing solutions.
ThinKom scores Air Force contract for advanced ground station antenna array
More complex satellite constellations necessitate more capable antenna solutions on aircraft and at ground stations. ThinKom, long a provider of antenna hardware for mobile connectivity, now has a multi-million dollar deal to deliver a modern gateway kit to the US Air Force’s R&D arm.
Intelsat adds more LEO/GEO capacity with Eutelsat/OneWeb deal
Intelsat will expand its partnership with Eutelsat and OneWeb, securing additional capacity for its mobile connectivity solutions over Europe, the Middle East, and the Pacific.
Viasat, Inmarsat receive provisional merger approval from UK
Should the Viasat/Inmarsat merger eventually close, the company may need to send a thank you present to the Starlink team at SpaceX. After four months of additional review, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued a provisional approval to the combination, and the upstart LEO operator is cited as a major factor in the determination.
Intelsat successfully tests Stellar Blu ESA in LEO/GEO service
Looking for the future of regional jet inflight connectivity? The seas off Puerto Rico this past month were a good place to start. That’s where Intelsat just spent four weeks testing the Stellar Blu ESA connected to LEO and GEO satellites.
First Breeze plane with Viasat inflight Wi-Fi now flying
The first Breeze Airways plane with Wi-Fi on board is now flying. The A220-300 was fitted with the Viasat inflight internet service earlier this month and is now operating in beta mode as it flies within Breeze’s network.
ThinKom scores contract for conformal inflight antenna solution
It is possible to completely remove the drag factor of an inflight internet satellite antenna? While electronically steered antenna (ESA) solutions promise to further reduce protrusions on the fuselage and limit drag in their future implementations, a new military-focused design from ThinKom completely eliminates the radome bump.
Anuvu taps Telesat for MicroGEO gateways
What does it take to manage communications with some of the smallest GEO satellites in orbit? How about some really, really big parabolic antennas. When Anuvu’s first MicroGEO satellites come online later this year they’ll communicate via new 9 meter gateway antennas, managed by Telesat.