The Plane Simple antenna system from Satcom Direct (SD) has been qualified on the Intelsat FlexExec high-throughput satellite network.
SD said that its Plane Simple Ku-band tail-mounted antenna system, together with Intelsat’s FlexExec, simplifies high-speed data access for business aviation owners through ease of installation, flexible plans and advanced antenna technology.
The verification follows months of testing and optimisation by both companies. This confirmed that the first network-integrated SD Plane Simple terminal, designed exclusively for business aviation, is fully compatible with FlexExec, a dedicated network capacity for business aviation.
“Until now high-speed capabilities have remained the domain of the large jet market, this qualification opens up the possibilities for more jet sizes to benefit from the advantages of high-speed broadband,” said Chris Moore, president of Satcom Direct Business Aviation. “Our operators are going to be delighted with the level of performance, cost-effectiveness and convenience of the powerful system. We are excited to introduce this advanced technology as it will better support more inflight productivity, enhance leisure time, and enable improved operational management for more customers.”
The design of the SD Plane Simple antenna system has been built in partnership with QEST, and consists of two line replaceable units, the SD modem and tail-mount antenna. SD said this minimises invasive installation, reduces maintenance fees, and provides an easy transition pathway to upgrade connectivity services. SD said that the qualification confirmed that together with Intelsat, it has enabled more seamless communication options, while enabling high-speed data connectivity through flexible, managed services, from a single resource, SD. Customers from the private, corporate, government and military sectors will all have access to the Intelsat FlexExec network and the SD Plane Simple hardware.
“SD and Intelsat are advancing the inflight experience for business aviation with a future-proof, hassle-free, end-to-end managed solution,” said Mark Rasmussen, Intelsat senior vice president, mobility. “Our successful partnership and collaboration are based on our shared focus for innovation, commercial simplicity and flexibility in business aviation communications. FlexExec is the only broadband solution fully integrated with the SD Plane Simple antenna solution, which is a huge testimony to the power and adaptivity of the Intelsat network.”
FlexExec is a global, multi-layered, redundant high-throughput satellite network. It is a dedicated solution designed exclusively for business aviation with ubiquitous, always-available access and features speeds up to 15×2 Mbps globally.
SD used its own Dassault Falcon 2000LX to gather the flight data during the qualification process. Testing spanned more than 115 flight hours over 62 individual legs. Some 250GB of data was transmitted to deliver consistent data streaming across multiple devices during the series of international test flights.
