Delivering an integrated access plan for its two Ka-band satellite constellations has been a key part of Viasat’s integration efforts in the year since its buyout of Inmarsat closed. And now the company has a firm plan for accomplishing that: a dual modem ModMan, as well as a new, software-defined modem.
The software-defined modem will initially be configured to support the ViaSat-3 satellites, including backwards compatibility for the rest of Viasat’s assets in space. The second slot will, by default, be fitted with the Velocity modem to support the GX satellites. With this system on board an aircraft would be able to switch smoothly between the satellite constellations, just as it can switch between satellites on either network today.
The flexibility of the the new modem card also means additional waveforms could be added as new constellations enter service, assuming the satellite operators make them available to the SDR. That’s likely to be the case given industry trends.
Read more: Can a quick integration solve Viasat’s predicament
A year ago Viasat’s VP Commercial Mobility Don Buchman was hopeful the current generation of Viasat terminals could be upgraded to communicate with the GX satellites. Similarly, company President Guru Gowrappan stated last August that the company could “make some software changes and install some equipment in our ground stations to make the interoperability work.” At that time a physical visit to the airplanes for a modem swap was seen as much less desirable. Today, however, it is the plan forward.
Software-defined hardware is the future
The new hardware is good news for interoperability and bringing additional capacity and redundancy into service, and even for future networks to join the Viasat ecosystem. It also comes with a catch or two.
For starters, Buchman expects the new ModMan hardware is still about 18 months away from entering service. That’s not great for airlines operating today without the coverage footprint they thought they’d have from the new ViaSat-3 satellites. But the company has a stop-gap plan to help there as well.
Read more: Viasat doubles down on interoperability to address short, mid-term capacity challenges
As previously shared, it is working to make some of the GX satellite coverage area work with the VS3 terminals. This is, however, more of a “precision” play, according to Buchman. “There are some beams we’re going to convert [to the ViaSat-3 service] because we have more demand in that network in some locations than in the GX network,” he explained. The conversion comes with a performance cost for the overall constellation, however.
Splitting GX capacity
Switching a beam means taking away capacity from the GX network, plus additional overhead on the satellite in general. And the company still has plenty of customers on the GX constellation it must also continue to support. This appears to be the type of interoperability Gowrappan was keen on. But it also only works in one direction.
For existing GX customers (including those committed under Airbus‘s HBCplus program) there is no roadmap for full cross-constellation support. At least not without replacing the antenna, along with the modem. Perhaps that changes a bit with an update to the Ka2517 antenna, but that’s also a longer-term situation.
Will airlines retrofit?
Finally, the new plan also only works if airlines have the new ModMan on board. For those who are flying today that means replacing hardware on the aircraft. As we saw previously with the switch from the VS-1 terminal to the VS-2 terminal, the cost and downtime impacts of those swaps can dissuade an airline from making the move. JetBlue still has a small part of its fleet flying with the older VS-1 kit, for example.
Viasat expects that the new ModMan will be available for retrofit in a similar timeframe as for new installs. Commitments for retrofits, however, have not yet been confirmed.
There is a plan to make the interoperability happen. It is a pretty good plan, one that will almost certainly be technically successful.
But it comes up well short of the optimism company executives had a year ago as the merger closed, and in the wake of the VS3-F1 and I6-F2 problems. It means a longer wait until Viasat can realize efficiencies of integrated capacity, allowing it to grow services more broadly.
And it means some airline customers, faced with a need to replace the hardware on board anyways to gain access to the upgraded capacity, will look to other suppliers. Qatar Airways certainly did (for one reason or another, but it was a GX customer and soon will be moving most of those planes to Starlink).
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