Gogo connecting fast satellites to small aircraft
If you don’t know what an ESA is or have never heard of a LEO satellite network those are both critical components of what Gogo is bringing to the market because they allow Gogo to build an antenna that is small enough to fit on small aircraft including turboprops like a Pilatus PC–12, or a Beechcraft King Air 350, or small jets such as a HondaJet or an Embraer Phenom 100. That same system can also be used on ultra-long range large-cabin jets and every aircraft in between.
“Unlike other providers, we’re focused on serving all of business aviation with our global broadband product, just like we did with our ATG network in North America several years ago, said Sergio Aguirre, Gogo’s president and COO. “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 and our service will be fast and affordable.”
The exclusive antenna assembly will be roughly 24 inches long by 11.2 inches wide and 2 inches tall and will be installed on the top of the fuselage of business aircraft. It will operate on the high-speed, low-latency LEO global network from OneWeb. Service is expected to launch in the second half of 2024.
The new service will require just one Gogo AVANCE LRU inside the aircraft, which means existing Gogo AVANCE customers will only have to install the ESA antenna, with a single cable for power in, and a single cable for data out.
The network will deliver performance comparable to terrestrial broadband services, with low latency that is significantly less than what geostationary satellite (GEOs) networks deliver today. The reason is the close proximity to Earth. LEO satellites are roughly 750 miles from the surface while GEO satellites orbit between 22,000 and 25,000 miles away.
“The LEO experience will be much better than a GEO network can provide and it’s not only because LEO will be faster, which it will be, but the latency—or the time it takes for a signal to travel from satellite to ground to aircraft—will be greatly reduced,” said Aguirre. “It’s a matter of physics and LEOs are much closer to Earth so the signal gets there much faster.”
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.
“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.”
Unlike GEO solutions, Gogo’s LEO 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.
