As the new Inmarsat high-speed GX Aviation satellite service nears launch later this year, Honeywell, Inmarsat and Kymeta are collaborating on a new wireless antenna with no moving parts, optimized for Ka-band satcom. The “flat panel” Kymeta mTenna antenna is smaller, lighter and more compact with a lower drag profile than traditional antennas, according to the companies, and thus will enable installation on small and large business aircraft. Honeywell will test and integrate the mTenna into its GX Aviation JetWave satcom products.

According to Kymeta, the mTenna products are “built on electromagnetic metamaterials technology” and “use a holographic approach to electronically acquire, steer, and lock a beam to any satellite, with no moving parts.” The company further explained that the antenna’s “tunable elements are arranged in a precisely calculated pattern. Radiofrequency energy is scattered when the elements are activated, holographically generating a beam. The direction of the beam is defined by the specific elements that are electronically activated, a design that allows for both continual and instantaneous changes in direction.”