Gogo is sharpening its international strategy following the integration of Satcom Direct and the rollout of its Gogo Galileo HDX antenna for low-earth-orbit (LEO) connectivity. Speaking with AIN ahead of EBACE 2025, Gogo CEO Chris Moore emphasized the merger’s significance, the European market’s role, and the company’s aim to provide seamless in-flight connectivity across aircraft and borders.
The combination of Gogo and Satcom Direct creates a unified provider offering air-to-ground, 5G, and low-earth-orbit (LEO) and geosynchronous (GEO) satellite connectivity. “What Satcom Direct brought to the deal was this global capability with sales and support,” Moore said. “We’ve got 13 offices all around the world, and [can] touch a customer’s aircraft in under 24 hours, anywhere on the planet.”
Gogo has retained the Satcom Direct data center and global network of points of presence that facilitate internet access from the air. While longtime Satcom Direct customers will experience no change in service, Moore said Gogo’s legacy customers are now benefiting from the upgraded global backbone.
The company is also rapidly building out its supplemental type certificates (STCs) for the HDX antenna. Gogo received FAA parts manufacturer approval (PMA) for the antenna in March, and installations are now proceeding under a growing list of STCs. The first two approvals came from EASA, underscoring Europe’s importance to Gogo’s global ambitions.
“The first one was on a Phenom 300. We also have one on an Airbus as well,” Moore said, noting that the aircraft have been flying regularly with positive performance results. Installations of the HDX antenna are being handled by Gogo’s global network of MRO partners.
More than 40 STCs are planned in 2025 for the HDX system, which supports speeds of up to 60 Mbps. Moore said Gogo has also received PMA approval for its up to 200 Mbps-capable full duplex (FDX) version of the system and expects STCs to follow soon after. He described customer interest as “well into the several hundreds,” with deliveries scheduled as approvals come online.
To support its European ambitions, Gogo has established offices in Farnborough, UK, and in Switzerland. Moore emphasized that its LEO satellite partner Eutelsat OneWeb is a European company—backed in part by UK government investment—and noted the importance of data handling within Europe, particularly for government and defense customers. “We’re not only just transmitting over the LEO network, we’re landing that traffic at critical infrastructure in Europe,” Moore said.
In February, Gogo renewed a three-year preferred supplier agreement with Luxaviation Group, expanding on a relationship first forged in 2021. The agreement provides access to the Gogo Galileo HDX and FDX antennas and highlights growing demand among mixed-fleet operators for global coverage with scalable hardware solutions.
Operators are showing interest in combining LEO with GEO service for added redundancy and flexibility, “and that’s really resonating with the European clients.” Moore said.
Gogo is prepared to offer dual LEO-GEO solutions for aircraft that operate in regions with regulatory restrictions on LEO use, such as China. “What we can do with big jet customers is have a GEO installation and a LEO installation,” Moore said. “You can have that consistency anywhere you fly in the world, 24/7/365—it’s pretty awesome.”
The HDX antenna, purpose-built for business aviation, is engineered for minimal drag and broad compatibility in what Moore described as “aircraft agnostic.” Moore said Gogo brings a consistency of service across mixed fleets.
“If you’ve got a mixture of Embraer, Dassault, Global, Bombardier products, Gulfstream products—we can put the antenna on,” he said.
Above all, Moore said the company aims to simplify the in-flight experience. “We’ve now got the ability to put very small infrastructure on planes that, at very cost-effective rates, means people can have the same experience they have in their home,” he said. “Whether I’m sitting in the office or…on a plane, it should be all possible.”