Gogo Business Aviation (Booth U73) is launching business aviation’s first global broadband satcom service to use an electronically steerable antenna on a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite network. The antenna assembly, designed in conjunction with Hughes Network systems, will be housed in an assembly small enough for any business aircraft from a turboprop and up, the U.S. company announced today at EBACE. The global broadband network will operate on OneWeb’s LEO satellite network and will require just one Gogo Avance LRU, utilizing its multi-bearer capability, for connectivity.

Performance will be comparable with terrestrial broadband, according to Gogo, with a latency of less than 100 ms—up to 10 times the speed of geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite networks. Additional architectural benefits over traditional GEO networks include: a single unit including the antenna, power supply, RF conversion, and modem; no reliance on aircraft position data; 28 VCD in, Ethernet out; and an integrated router.

The system has been designed to simplify installation, thereby reducing costs, and will enable users to perform a multitude of data-heavy online activities including multiple simultaneous live video conferences, access to cloud solutions such as Office365, and streaming television.

The connectivity will be “fast and affordable” and provide “best in class global performance,” said Sergio Aguirre, president and COO of the U.S. company. “We want to give everyone in business aviation the ability to have an exceptional broadband experience regardless of where or what size aircraft they fly.”

Concurrently, OneWeb is planning to create a host of inflight connectivity applications.  

Calling the new service “a leap forward for business aviation connectivity,” OneWeb v-p mobility Ben Griffin said, “OneWeb and Gogo will be able to offer an unmatched experience to business jet operators and passengers worldwide.”

Service will be available shortly after the OneWeb satellite network is completed, which is expected this year.

Existing Avance L3 and L5 system customers will be able to combine OneWeb’s LEO network with their current Gogo ATG network for even higher capacity broadband for flights in North America.