Low-latency Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satcom and nextgen air-to-ground connectivity are adding excitement to the hotly competitive IFC market in business aviation, providing new options for operators and making broadband Internet available for a new breed of aircraft including many historically disconnected tails.
On the march…
SpaceX’s Ku-band LEO-based Starlink Aviation solution is already being installed on a variety of Bombardier and Gulfstream large-cabin and long-range business jets, and is even coming to small Super KingAir 200/300 turboprops, whose flatter fuselages are capable of carrying the firm’s larger first-gen electronically steered antenna (ESA).
Would-be Starlink competitors are also making headway, including Gogo Business Aviation’s forthcoming Galileo system, which is supported by Hughes-made, Gogo HDX- and FDX-branded ESA terminals and Eutelsat OneWeb’s soon-to-debut Ku-band LEO service in aero. Galileo will be competitively priced to Starlink. An arrangement between Gogo and NetJets gives the fractional ownership powerhouse the ability to upgrade aircraft to Galileo and ensure its owners in Europe can avail of the service.
Satcom Direct is also offering its own brand of Eutelsat OneWeb LEO-powered IFC using various ESA partners. As an example, Comlux recently forged a LOI with ESA-maker Stellar Blu Solutions to add this broadband service to the ACJ TwoTwenty. Satcom Direct will act as the Eutelsat OneWeb LEO service provider, Comlux confirms to Runway Girl Network. (Stellar Blu is in the process of being acquired by Israeli firm Gilat Satellite Networks, which also happens to have an ESA arrangement with Satcom Direct for business aviation.)
SmartSky Networks’ cost-effective nextgen LITE ATG system for CONUS-based operators has been fitted to everything from King Airs and Pilatus PC-12s to Cessna Citation Latitudes and CJ4s. Delivering streaming-level performance to light jets and turboprops for the first time, LITE was recently installed on the very first HondaJet, and entered revenue service with Volato. Banyan Air Service will complete additional LITE installs on Volato’s HondaJet fleet in the next several months.
Even the nascent eVTOL market, which is expected to be complementary to BizAv, is in line for broadband connectivity, with German firm SkyFive advancing nextgen ATG IFC in partnership with Diehl Aviation for these electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. Also on the ATG front, Gogo is touting a nextgen 5G solution for North America, and has secured some notable wins, though the program has been delayed by chip issues which might not be resolved before year-end.
These are just a few examples of higher-bandwidth IFC solutions that are shaking up BizAv right now, adding to an already competitive landscape that sees several stalwart players continuing to innovate. Let’s take a look at how the market has evolved and where it’s going.
You’ve come a long way, baby
Business jets flying internationally require a near global satcom service if they want to remain connected. In 2002, Inmarsat launched Swift 64, a data service that at 64 Kbps was considered high-speed for the time period and proved popular with business users who needed ISDN data connectivity. The successor to Swift 64, Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband service launched several years later, initially offering 432 Kbps speeds per channel. It too saw robust take up.
However, it wasn’t uncommon for cabin crew to keep these early Inmarsat L-band geostationary (GEO) satellite systems turned off for cabin applications unless expressly instructed otherwise by the principal due to relatively hefty per-minute and per-MB pricing, as RGN learned during a 2014 visit to a prominent Qatari bizjet operator and in interviews with stakeholders through the years. Inmarsat’s near global Global Xpress (GX) Ka-band GEO satellite-based Jet ConneX broadband service, with far higher speeds for BizAv, launched in 2016 via a cadre of resellers.
Meanwhile, by 2010, Viasat was offering a near global footprint for its Yonder Ku-band GEO satellite system, which could deliver up to 10 Mbps even back then. Later rebranded as Viasat Ku Advanced, Yonder has penetrated the market to the tune of a few hundred mostly large-cabin tails flying long haul, including Boeing Business Jets (PDF).
Having completed its acquisition of Inmarsat last year, Viasat now says that more than 5,000 business jets use its services. As is common in BizAv, Viasat serves the sector via trusted resellers, including Collins Aerospace, Honeywell and Satcom Direct. But it also has some direct relationships with customers. Its 5,000-plus tails are understood to comprise SwiftBroadband-powered IFC installs, Viasat proper’s own high-capacity Ka-band offering (which debuted in the US two years after Viasat Ka went live on commercial airline JetBlue), GX-powered Jet ConneX, and the Ku-band service formerly known as Yonder which is expected to be available until at least 2025.
Also in the Ku-band, Intelsat and partner Satcom Direct offer FlexExec, which comes fully integrated with SD’s Plane Simple Ku antenna system; whilst Collins Aerospace and SES provide a Luxstream-branded service.
In North America, where Gogo has long operated a dedicated ATG network, the firm holds a dominant position with some 7,136 aircraft fitted with its 3G/4G solutions by 31 March 2024.
New IFC options…
Longtime providers in the space are not sitting on their hands. Viasat Jet ConneX will soon boast an interoperable Honeywell terminal that can talk to both Viasat and GX GEO satellites, called JetWave X. Separately, Viasat is also offering an upgraded SwiftJet L-band service to operators, as part of the Inmarsat legacy it inherited. With maximum speeds of 2.6 Mbps, SwiftJet is pitched as being “the fastest ever L-band connectivity service for the business aviation industry”. Honeywell and SD are resellers.
New Ku LEO solutions are, as mentioned, also on the scene, firstly SpaceX’s Starlink Aviation service, with several, largely heavy jet STCs already secured. During the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, SpaceX revealed that 700-plus aircraft have committed to Starlink. Many tails in this tally represent commercial jets (for instance, SpaceX sees Qatar Airways as a full-fleet customer). But many are also bizjets, as a growing network of dealers have agreed to install the system. MRO and aviation services provider Elliott Aviation, which is supporting Starlink installs on King Air turboprops, tells RGN that King Air operators should expect “2-3 weeks” of typical downtime to accommodate the Starlink install.
Eutelsat OneWeb, meanwhile, is expected to start offering its rival Ku LEO aero service in support of revenue operations this fall, opening up new international business opportunities for resellers Gogo and SD. Supplemental type certificates for a variety of aircraft types are underway including in Europe. Gogo is targeting over 12,000 midsized jets, small jets and turboprops registered outside North America that have no broadband solution today, as well as midsize and smaller jets that domicile inside North America that often fly international missions or want higher speeds.
Additionally, Iridium Communications is rolling out its global nextgen L-band LEO-based Certus service on bizjets, with Certus reseller and satcom system provider Collins Aerospace announcing last month that it has modified a Prince Aviation Cessna 525 Citation Jet with the 704 Kbps solution. (Iridium’s first-generation voice and data solutions are installed on over 60,000 aircraft today and have been critical for flight safety and pilot comms. Gogo still services more than 4,000 aircraft globally on the Iridium network.)
The still unique US market
Specific to the US market, Gogo now faces competition from SmartSky, whose CONUS-based network of cell towers went live in 2022. SmartSky stands to benefit from the fact that a few thousand Gogo legacy ATG installs are up for grabs (as Gogo moves away from original EV-DO hardware from China’s ZTE per US government requirements), and that it has an answer for light jets and turboprop operators that want a streaming class of service in the form of LITE.
Whilst Gogo reckons it’s not losing aircraft to SmartSky from its install base, SmartSky notes that Davinci Jets has, for instance, already installed its kit on four aircraft, replacing Gogo systems on three of them.
Some analysts suggest that SpaceX’s Starlink poses a serious competitive threat to these ATG offerings, and threatens Gogo’s still dominant position. But whilst Gogo has seen some pressure on new IFC sales for heavy jets, Starlink — similar to other broadband satcom systems — is presently geared towards larger aircraft, especially those that spend a lot of time outside the US. STCs for midsize and even smaller bizjets are, however, in the offing with SpaceX’s Starlink web site quoting 4Q and 2025 targets.
For its part, SmartSky doesn’t see a direct threat from Starlink as yet. Provided operators have large budgets, Starlink can serve the niche of special mission style small aircraft with a flat fuselage (like the King Air) or those based internationally, it notes. “However, most small aircraft want streaming IFC performance at a much more affordable price (upfront & ongoing); SmartSky hits that value bulls-eye.”Both LEO- and ATG-based IFC are low latency solutions, capable of delivering a snappy experience in-flight. Having tried both Starlink Aviation on a JSX ERJ-145 and SmartSky’s ATG service on a Cessna Citation Excel, your author found the services to be comparable.
What is clear, however, is there has never been more broadband IFC options available in business aviation. That’s good news for operators around the globe. Not only will it keep both IFC hardware manufacturers and service providers on their toes, but it will ensure an improved experience for passengers — in some instances introducing broadband speeds for the very first time.
Related Articles:
- Viasat to focus VS3-F1 throughput on aviation, talks interoperable kit
- Gilat to acquire Stellar Blu Solutions as part of IFC growth strategy
- OneWeb-powered Galileo to be competitively priced to Starlink: Gogo
- Opportunity arises as Gogo plans 2026 phase out of Classic ATG support
- SpaceX lowers monthly pricing for Starlink Aviation in BizAv
- Flexjet to replace Viasat GEO inflight connectivity with SpaceX LEO
- Hughes on target to flight-test ESA for Gogo Business in 2H 2024
- Gogo teams with Hughes, OneWeb for global LEO inflight connectivity
- SkyFive advances A2G connectivity projects in EMEA, elsewhere
- Gogo eyes 3Q 2024 for 5G shipments as chip problem bites
- Viasat continues to add Ku Advanced customers in BizAv
Featured image credited to Banyan
