Duncan Aviation has completed the first installation of a Gogo Galileo HDX electronically steered antenna on a Bombardier Challenger 300, and flight testing of the low-earth-orbit satellite communications system has commenced. Gogo Business Aviation also unveiled system and service pricing for Galileo, which will launch commercially later this year. Gogo Galileo runs on the Eutelsat OneWeb satellite network.
The HDX is the smaller of two antennas that Gogo will offer, weighing 21.6 pounds and measuring 24 inches long, 11.8 inches wide, and 2.1 inches high. The larger FDX will be available in the first half of 2025 and weighs 40 to 45 pounds, with a length of 30 inches, width 24.6 inches, and height the same at 2.1 inches. Between the two sizes, Gogo said its antenna options will enable Galileo service “on any size business aircraft.”
Service speed for the HDX system is up to 60 Mbps download and 11 Mbps upload, while the FDX will offer 195 Mbps download and 32 Mbps upload. Service pricing starts at $3,500 per month for 25 GB to $10,500 for unlimited data. The system price as an add-on to Avance L5 is $120,000 for HDX or $190,000 for FDX.
For the 4,000 airplanes already equipped with a Gogo Avance L5 system, the most complex part of the Galileo system installation is mounting the antenna on top of the fuselage. Then a data line from the antenna is connected to the L5 LRU and power runs to the antenna. Following the Challenger installation, Gogo and Duncan engineers immediately switched on the satcom and were able to connect eight devices, all streaming content simultaneously. The next phase of testing includes fine-tuning and electromagnetic interference, vibration, and buffeting testing on the ground, as well as flight testing.
There are eight Galileo supplemental type certificate programs underway, which will cover 5,318 airplanes, and another 21 programs are in process, which will cover an additional 12,267 airplanes.
“Reaching this milestone puts Gogo Galileo HDX on track to launch in the fourth quarter, on time and on budget,” said Gogo president and COO Sergio Aguirre.