LEO Broadband Internet Coming to Business Aviation

A new LEO broadband Internet service from Gogo Business Aviation will be the first in the sector to use an electronically steered antenna (ESA) on a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite network.

"We want to give everyone in business aviation the ability to have an exceptional broadband experience regardless of where they fly, or what size aircraft they fly."

Sergio Aguirre, Gogo Business Aviation's president and chief operating officer.

Gogo's exclusive antenna assembly, designed in conjunction with Hughes Network Systems, LLC (Hughes), will be small enough for installation on the fuselage of business aircraft from super light jets and large turboprops to ultra long-range jets, and will operate on OneWeb's high-speed, low-latency broadband global network.

To access the network, the new service will require just one Gogo AVANCE LRU inside the aircraft, which means existing AVANCE customers will only have to install the ESA antenna, with a single cable for power in, and a single cable for data out.

"This will be a fast and affordable broadband system that will provide best-in-class global performance on the broadest range of aircraft in business aviation," said Sergio Aguirre, Gogo Business Aviation's president and chief operating officer. "We want to give everyone in business aviation the ability to have an exceptional broadband experience regardless of where they fly, or what size aircraft they fly."

The OneWeb network will deliver performance comparable to terrestrial broadband services, with game-changing low latency that is significantly less than geostationary satellites (GEOs). A multitude of users will be able to simultaneously perform data-heavy interactive online activities such as conducting simultaneous live video conferences, accessing cloud solutions such as Office365, watching live TV, streaming video applications like TikTok, and much more.

"Our agreement with Gogo Business Aviation represents a leap forward for business aviation connectivity," said Ben Griffin, vice president Mobility at OneWeb. "By harnessing the power of our LEO constellation to deliver robust, consistent, and reliable global coverage, OneWeb and Gogo will be able to offer an unmatched experience to business jet operators and passengers worldwide."

OneWeb's LEO constellation is fully funded and will consist of 648 satellites, 428 of which have already been launched. Unlike GEO solutions, Gogo's LEO broadband Internet service will include one fuselage-mounted unit with an integrated antenna, modem, power supply and RF converter; will only require 28 volts of DC power; will not rely on aircraft-positioning data; and will include an AVANCE router.

"We've designed the system to reduce costs by simplifying the installation," Aguirre continued. "We have long delivered affordable, high-quality connectivity, and award-winning customer service to aircraft owners in North America, and now we want to bring those same benefits to all aircraft owners in the rest of the world."

For customers with an AVANCE L3 or L5 system in North America, the unique multi-bearer capability of the AVANCE platform will allow Gogo to combine capacity from OneWeb's LEO satellite network with Gogo's ATG network to deliver even higher capacity than LEO alone can provide.

The Gogo broadband Internet service for business aviation will be available soon after the OneWeb network is fully launched and commercially available.

(Source: Gogo Business Aviation news release. Image from file)