A new era of inflight connectivity has arrived and, for the first time, business aviation customers can have the same Wi-Fi experience in their aircraft that they have on the ground. It’s no longer a promise being made, it’s a promise realized.
Gogo Business Aviation is leading the revolution with its Gogo Galileo global broadband service which delivers a fast, low-latency connectivity experience to any size business aircraft operating anywhere in the world.
The highly anticipated service, scheduled to launch later this year, is backed by Eutelsat OneWeb’s enterprise-grade Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO) network, designed for mobility to deliver low variability and consistent performance across all routes globally.
“The Gogo Galileo program is progressing so well, and we expect it to provide a home or office-like experience in the sky to meet the lofty expectations for fast inflight connectivity in business aviation, thanks to the transformative power of LEO satellite connectivity,” said Gogo Business Aviation President and COO, Sergio Aguirre. “The electronically steered HDX antenna is unlike anything else on the market worldwide. It’s a technological marvel. Gogo Galileo will serve the entire breadth of business aviation.”
The HDX antenna is designed with a small form factor to fit on any size business aircraft, delivering peak speeds up to 60 Mbps, and mean speeds very close to peak at 57 Mbps.
Speed matters, but there’s more to consider
When considering an inflight connectivity solution and provider, Aguirre says there’s more to consider than fast data speeds and low latency. It’s important to understand if the company is committed to business aviation for the long term. And when it comes to the onboard equipment and the network providing the service, the difference between aviation grade versus consumer grade is critical to understand.
“When you’re making the kind of investment to add inflight connectivity to your aircraft, you can’t afford to make the wrong choice,” said Aguirre. “This is a long-term commitment and you need to get it right. You should ask: Does the company have a history of proven, reliable performance for business aviation aircraft? Are they committed to this industry for the long haul? And what kind of customer support will you receive if something goes wrong?
“Gogo only does inflight connectivity for business aviation, and we do it very well,” he continued. “Our singular focus on business aviation means no compromises. Your inflight connectivity is our only concern. We provide customer support from real people who are experts in this industry, and they are available 24/7/365, including every major holiday.”
First Installation Complete on Challenger 300, Flight Testing Underway
Gogo worked with Duncan Aviation to complete the first installation of Gogo Galileo HDX on a Bombardier Challenger 300 in August and immediately began flight testing the system.
As will be true for any of the approximately 4,000 aircraft with AVANCE platform equipment installed, installation on the Challenger consisted only of adding the fuselage-mounted antenna on top of the aircraft, running power from the aircraft to the antenna, and running a data line from the HDX back to the already-installed AVANCE LRU (line replaceable unit).
“Our expert team completed the installation, and then alongside Gogo’s engineers, immediately started testing the system on the ground and had eight devices connected and streaming at the same time,” said Duncan Aviation Houston Satellite Manager Mark Winter. “It was impressive to say the least, and we know our customers who upgrade to Gogo Galileo will love this step-function improvement in the connectivity experience.”
Gogo has been finetuning the performance and integrity of the system, including electromagnetic interference (EMI) ground testing, vibe and buffeting testing, and a robust flight-testing campaign. Everything is progressing as expected.
“Gogo Galileo customers will experience highly reliable service on our LEO satellite network, which unlike competitive LEO networks, does not share bandwidth with consumer users,” said Aguirre. “And we designed our HDX antenna to be small enough to fit on any business aircraft, something no one else is offering.”
STCs in development to cover virtually every business aviation airframe
Gogo’s dealers are seeing strong demand for Gogo Galileo HDX and have contracted to complete 25 Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) covering an extensive list of aircraft makes and models.
The STCs cover virtually every size business aircraft and unlock a total addressable market of more than 18,000 aircraft globally, many of which have not had access to broadband inflight connectivity prior to Gogo Galileo.
The STCs are supported by Gogo’s extensive dealer network in North America, Europe and South America, and will cover a range of airframes from super-light jets to ultra-long-range large-cabin aircraft, all to be completed in 2025.
The airframes include:
- Bombardier Challenger 300 series
- Bombardier Challenger 600 series
- Bombardier Global Express series
- Embraer Legacy 450/500
- Embraer Legacy 600/650
- Embraer Praetor 500/600
- Gulfstream G-200
- Gulfstream G-280
- Gulfstream G-IV/G-IV-X/G-450
- Gulfstream G-V/G-550
- HondaJet
- King Air series
- Learjet 40/45/70/75
- Embraer Phenom 100
- Embraer Phenom 300
- Pilatus PC-12
- Pilatus PC-24
- Textron Citation Jet 525 series
- Textron Citation Latitude
- Textron Citation X/X+
- Textron Citation XL/XLS
- Beechcraft Hawker series
Gogo anticipates the STC portfolio will continue to grow. Gogo is also in discussions with all of the business aviation aircraft manufacturers for aftermarket STCs and service bulletins.
“The exceptional response from our dealer network is a testament to the strong demand for Gogo Galileo in the industry,” said Aguirre. “Gogo customers now have access to true aviation-grade broadband connectivity regardless of the size of aircraft they operate or where they fly.”
Gogo is also offering a special promotional rebate of $25,000, available for a limited time, to current Gogo customers operating a legacy air-to-ground system (ATG 1000, 2000, 4000, 5000) when installing AVANCE SCS and HDX.
AVANCE is the centerpiece
Gogo designed its AVANCE LRU, the hardware and software platform that is the heart of Gogo Galileo, to break the traditional way that inflight connectivity companies previously provided technological innovation. With AVANCE, Gogo developed a system that would be able to incorporate new technologies with minimal disruption – or no disruption – for an upgrade.
“We specifically engineered AVANCE so users had the ability to add new networks like LEO or Gogo 5G, or whatever might come next,” said Aguirre. “No more rip and replace needed. Gogo Galileo is an AVANCE add-on so for global connectivity, all a customer needs is one AVANCE system – an L3, L5, LX5, or SCS – and the addition of a single fuselage-mounted antenna.”
AVANCE also offers some unique benefits to operators that other inflight connectivity providers don’t. Those include features like Gogo Vision – the industry’s only inflight entertainment service offering hundreds of movies and TV programs, a 3D moving map, 30 leading magazines in digital format, and business news – along with service such as over-the-air (OTA) software updates to keep all Gogo AVANCE LRUs current with the latest technology.
“We implemented over-the-air software updates for our AVANCE systems recently which was an incredible achievement by our team,” said Aguirre. “AVANCE customers can now receive automatic updates to their system software, for one aircraft or an entire fleet, from anywhere in the world, over the air. No one else in business aviation can update their system software so efficiently.”