Story ID: 339
Satcom Direct Is Expanding Connectivity Options
By: Matt Thurber
Caption: Always-on and redundant satellite service will soon be available
Word Count: 498
The FAA has granted supplemental type certificate (STC) approval for installation of Satcom Direct’s Plane Simple Ka-band tail-mount antenna on Gulfstream’s G650. The satellite system and service provider also announced that it will begin flight testing a phased-array electronically steered antenna (ESA) operating on the Eutelsat OneWeb low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite network in August. Avcon Jet will be the launch customer for the Plane Simple ESA installation and plans to equip multiple aircraft in its fleet for the OneWeb service.
“Our market has been 3,000-nautical-mile-plus aircraft,” said Satcom Direct president Chris Moore. These aircraft are large enough to accommodate a tail-mounted antenna such as Satcom Direct’s 12-inch Plane Simple mechanically steered antenna, which is manufactured by QEST. “Our phased-array antenna enables us to sell a different type of service,” he said. 
Satcom Direct also offers geostationary earth orbit (GEO) Ku-band satcom service with Intelsat FlexExec airtime, as well as Viasat Ka-band satcom, each using a dedicated Plane Simple tail-mount antenna to provide a dual-dissimilar-band system. “Having GEO [satcom] on the tail and LEO on the fuselage makes a lot of sense,” Moore said.
Passengers expect to have full connectivity while flying long legs on ultra-long-range business jets, and Satcom Direct can fulfill that need with three systems managed by its router. “Everyone else is selling a proprietary solution that just does one thing. This gives the customer a choice.”
The Plane Simple ESA, made by Gilat Satellite Networks, measures 16 by 35 inches, is just three inches tall, and can fit on smaller aircraft such as the HondaJet and single-engine turboprops. A Satcom direct modem unit is also required.
Flight testing will be done on a Cessna CitationJet and a Caravan, and Satcom Direct expects to switch on its OneWeb LEO service in the first quarter of 2025. Plans call to add STCs for a variety of airplanes, including Gulfstreams, Embraer Phenom 300s, Bombardier jets, and others. “We’ve already got a backlog of orders,” Moore said.
To make the OneWeb service attractive, Satcom Direct plans to offer various packages such as a three-year hardware service bundle for $15,000 per month that includes all of the equipment and unlimited service. Buyers would not have any upfront capital costs other than paying a dealer for installation. OneWeb service offers up to 195 Mbps downloads and 36 Mbps uploads.
Moore is well aware of the competition from SpaceX’s Starlink LEO satcom, which costs $150,000 for hardware plus installation and $10,000 per month for unlimited service. Like Starlink, OneWeb is an LEO network, but Starlink is a direct-to-consumer network with SpaceX selling the service. OneWeb is working with multiple service providers such as Satcom Direct and Gogo Business Aviation.
“With our new plans, which are similar to the cellphone model many of us subscribe to, we are changing the parameters for business and general aviation connectivity by providing a more transparent and easy-to-administer connectivity option,” he said.