GOGO

Gogo Business Aviation has received Supplemental Type Certification (STC) and Parts Manufacturer Approval (PMA) from the FAA for its 5G aircraft antenna.

“Receiving STC and PMA for the 5G antenna marks the next important milestone in the development of Gogo 5G,” said Sergio Aguirre, president of Gogo Business Aviation. “Our team has been hard at work to bring Gogo 5G to life and we remain on track and on budget to launch service in the second half of 2022.”

The STC for the multiband belly-mounted 5G antenna was completed by Duncan Aviation on its company-owned Citation 560XLS. In November, Gogo also announced that Duncan Aviation is working to complete the first-article STC for the onboard 5G system.

Gogo’s authorized dealers and OEM partners are actively pursuing multiple STCs that will certify the Gogo 5G system for installation on more than 30 business aircraft models.

Gogo 5G is expected to deliver ~25 Mbps on average with peak speeds in the 75-80 Mbps range and has been designed to deliver high throughput with very low latency to address the increasing demand for data-heavy interactive services like video conferencing.

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SPACEX/INMARSAT

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the second in the Inmarsat-6 series of satellites, I-6 F2, from Cape Canaveral, Florida in Q1 2023. Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries launched the first of the series, I-6 F1, in December 2021 and its fully electric propulsion system is now raising it to a geostationary orbital slot, 36,000km (22,000 miles) over the Indian Ocean. I-6 F1 will enter service in early 2023, following testing later this year, with I-6 F2 scheduled to follow into operation over the Atlantic later in 2023.

I-6 F1 and F2 are identical, with the payloads designed and manufactured in the UK at Airbus’s facilities in Stevenage and Portsmouth, prior to final assembly in Toulouse, France. The most sophisticated commercial communications satellites ever built, they are each almost as large as a London double-decker bus and, when their solar arrays are opened to their full 47m (154 feet) width, they have a ‘wingspan’ similar to a Boeing 767.

The I-6s are Inmarsat’s first dual band satellites, carrying both ELERA (L-band) and Global Xpress (GX – Ka-band) payloads. The Inmarsat 6 series of satellites will play a crucial role in the ongoing growth of the company’s unique ORCHESTRA dynamic mesh network.

This revolutionary layered approach is designed to meet the accelerating bandwidth requirements of more diverse, demanding and ever more widely adopted applications in the commercial and government mobility markets. By drawing on the unique capabilities of each component, it will deliver high performance connectivity everywhere, while eliminating the longstanding industry-wide challenge of congestion at high demand hot spots, like busy ports, airports, sea canals and flight corridors, for good.

ORCHESTRA’s unprecedented combination of global coverage, unparalleled capacity and resilience will provide customers with a low-risk transition to next generation service capabilities, enabling new business models and use cases well into the future. For example:

Urban Air Mobility: Complete command and control and secure air traffic management capabilities for the safe operation of autonomous flying taxis and personal air transport.
Industrial IoT: Secure, device-neutral, private networks for large scale IoT deployments that can integrate, manage and monitor disparate sensors and devices via a single cloud environment.
Smart Cruise Ships: High speed, low latency passenger, crew and operational connectivity solutions for ferries and cruise ships, enabled through global satcom and on-board 5G networks.
Tactical Private Networks: Bespoke, high-speed, local area, temporary ‘sovereign’ networks to connect international aid, forces or government agencies in the field while securely relaying critical data home for analysis.

Details on the precise date for the launch will be provided once confirmed by Inmarsat and SpaceX.

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PANASONIC

Finnair has selected Panasonic Avionics Corporation’s (Panasonic Avionics) ArcTM map platform to enhance the passenger experience onboard its long-haul fleet.

This captivating and immersive map solution will be available through Panasonic Avionics’ eX3 in-flight entertainment (IFE) system. It will be further enhanced by Panasonic Avionics’ high-speed connectivity services, which are also installed across Finnair’s long haul fleet. With the unveiling of its new long-haul cabins, Finnair is the launch customer for Arc in Europe.

Arc will be installed on the airline’s 19 Airbus A350-900 and eight A330-300 aircraft, with the first having entered service on February 10th. It brings a wide range of innovations to the traditional in-flight map application, while expanding the concept into a fully integrated experience within the IFE and connectivity system – which is already provided by Panasonic Avionics.

Arc will be available to all passengers, in all cabin classes using Panasonic Avionics eX3 product and visible on overhead monitors and seatback screens.

Using Arc, passengers will now be able to choose from over 20 distinct map views in full HD for various phases of flight, incorporating everything from stunning 3D satellite imagery, local and global views, down to a personalized feature that enables passengers to see the aircraft’s relative position to their selected map location throughout their flight.

Andrew Mohr, Vice President of Digital Solutions for Panasonic Avionics Corporation, said, “The moving map is an integral part of the passenger experience and Arc takes this to a whole new dimension. As the European launch customer, Finnair, with its well-deserved reputation for innovation, will be setting the standard for the in-flight map experience across this important region.”

Arc is inspired by the latest design thinking of contemporary digital and gaming experiences and enables airlines to leverage the high viewership of in-flight moving maps.

Arc is designed so that new content can soon be efficiently pushed to individual aircraft via its own global connectivity services, ensuring a unique, fresh passenger experience that also maximizes operational efficiency and passenger engagement.

Harri Valkama, Digital Channel Lead at Finnair, says: “Finnair is striving to create a unique, differentiated IFE user experience and we are excited to take the 3D map experience to the next level with Panasonic Avionics, going beyond offering a traditional third party off-the-shelf app. We found it very valuable to actively participate and influence the development of the Panasonic Arc map based on the feedback received from our customers. The map will be an integral part of the Finnair IFE user interface and we see big potential in the possibilities enabled by open APIs. In the future, Arc Studio will enable us to easily make changes to the Arc map and influence how the map is shown to our customers. “

Since its debut, Arc has experienced one of the highest adoption rates of any Panasonic Avionics service, with confirmed orders from over 20 airlines on over 300 aircraft, highlighting the success of Panasonic Avionics’ commitment to leading the digital evolution of the passenger experience.

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OTHER NEWS

• Well, light will soon be used to enable wireless networking on aircraft these folks say…You decide – Li-Fi Showing Signs of Li-Fe? | Valour Consultancy
• Curious about the airline industry impact by the Russian invasion of Ukraine? Check out this link.
• Interested in seeing your scale of our universe? The Scale of the Visible Universe – YouTube