In its quest to provide consistent satellite communications airborne connectivity to business aviation customers, Satcom Direct has transitioned from being primarily a service provider to a satcom system hardware company. Its first hardware was the SD Router and now its Intelsat FlexExec Ku-band Plane Simple satcom is preparing to make inroads into the satellite connectivity market.
“Consistency of service is what we’re focused on, and capability,” said Satcom Direct president Chris Moore. “So when somebody gets into a business jet and its [connectivity is] powered by Satcom Direct, they’re getting the most consistent service anywhere.”
By the end of this year, Satcom Direct expects its Ku-band Plane Simple system to be installed on 30 early adopter aircraft. The system will be available for installation in a variety of aircraft in the second half of next year.
“We’re anticipating a large number of customers,” Moore said. Satcom Direct will also begin testing of a Ka-band Plane Simple antenna by the end of the year, he added.
Meanwhile, Satcom Direct is moving ahead with flat-panel antenna technology with German antenna manufacturer QEST Antenna Technology, which also manufactures the Plane Simple antennas. The flat-panel antenna is designed to work with OneWeb’s low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite network, which will provide service in the range of 50 Mbps and eventually up to 150 to 200 Mbps.
The advantage of flat-panel technology is that it enables high-speed satcom on smaller aircraft, including light jets such as the Embraer Phenom 300 or Cessna Citation CJ3. “We could go smaller,” Moore said, “but it’s down to the economics of how much the customer wants to pay for internet access.”
According to Moore, testing has resolved issues with cooling the flat-panel antenna. “This is the most exciting thing I’ve ever seen,” he said.
For larger business jets, Moore anticipates customers wanting to install both low-earth-orbit and Inmarsat geostationary-orbit satcom systems to provide redundancy and to address various use cases. For example, one high-speed channel could be dedicated to a streaming video meeting, leaving additional capacity for passengers’ communications and entertainment needs. “We can intelligently work that all out,” Moore said.