Gogo, the leading global provider of broadband connectivity products and services for aviation, announced today that it has more than 200 aircraft equipped with its 2Ku inflight connectivity technology utilizing the increased capacity delivered by SES-15. These aircraft came online in SES-15’s first operational month and are the first to benefit from the new high throughput satellite (HTS) capacity.
So What??
This is great news for passengers as the additional capacity delivers increased bandwidth to aircraft. Delta Air Lines and Air Canada will be the first to benefit on the Gogo implementation.Gogo’s first mover advantage is limited here as both Global Eagle and Panasonic Avionics also hold significant capacity allocations on SES-15 and will be activating that for their aircraft in the coming months. That will add significant numbers of Southwest Airlines and United Airlines aircraft to the new SES satellite’s service area.
SES-15 entered service in January 2018 and is SES’s first hybrid satellite providing Ku-band wide beams and Ku-band spot-beam capacity over North America, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Due to SES-15’s high-powered HTS beams, all Gogo aircraft outfitted with its next generation modem will experience an even better customer experience with improved economics. All new 2Ku installations enter service with the upgraded modem, and all 2Ku equipped aircraft are expected to have the new modem by the end of this year.
Gogo’s 2Ku technology is delivering industry leading performance today, but we designed the technology with an open architecture so it could take advantage of numerous enhancements over time. As we layer in more HTS capacity from satellites like SES-15, 2Ku’s performance will get even stronger without having to touch the aircraft. – Anand Chari, Gogo’s CTO
“Deploying HTS connectivity requires a coordinated and collaborative approach because of the spot beam design,” said Elias Zaccack, executive vice president global sales at SES Networks. “We are proud of our strong working relationship with the entire Gogo team.”
Gogo has signed capacity agreements across 11 SES satellites around the world, including agreements for HTS capacity onboard SES-15 and SES-14, which successfully launched in January 2018 and will provide additional HTS capacity over Latin America, the Caribbean, and across the North Atlantic.
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David says
Hopefully the new ground network to support the HTS will also be upgraded as that seems to be an issue for many Gogo customers
Seth Miller says
Are you referring to the ATG network, the SES teleports, or Gogo’s back-haul/peering network? I have to assume the third as the other two wouldn’t make any sense.
David says
Referring to the ground back-haul (Teleports, ground servers….), lots of issues and challenges with integration and the real-world experience doesn’t quite align with the PR