Software-defined aero modem in the spotlight as Intelsat mulls MEO

Should Intelsat press forward with launching a medium Earth orbit (MEO) constellation, the satellite operator and aero ISP absolutely intends for MEO service to play into its multi-orbit strategy for inflight connectivity. That’s among the reasons why the work being undertaken to build a software-defined aero modem is taking on a new level of importance.

On the one hand, MEO would bring NGSO service to the current Intelsat 2Ku GEO proposition for airlines (as 2Ku has been effectively locked out of OneWeb LEO, with OneWeb choosing not to use it on its network). But MEO would also ensure that the Intelsat ESA (based on Stellar Blu Solutions’ design/integration and Ball Aerospace’s scalable subarrays) can talk to all three: OneWeb LEO, Intelsat MEO and GEO.

“We knew in adopting this [ESA] antenna that MEO was coming. I expect that in the 2027-ish timeframe,” said Intelsat senior vice president of commercial aviation Dave Bijur in reference to the rough timeline for deploying the MEO constellation. To be clear, Intelsat is still mulling the MEO scheme, with SpaceNews reporting that management expects to decide early next year after requesting proposals from nine satellite makers.

But with that caveat, Bijur told RGN at the recent APEX/IFSA Global EXPO in Long Beach that:

For us, our next big thing is to create a software-defined modem so that when you’re moving from network to network, the platform evolves. You don’t have to keep on coming back and running new hardware and changing the aircraft. The airlines have asked us to stop messing around with the airplane. So, the strategy here is to make all of our changes away from the airplane and make very few changes on the airplane.

“So, we’re trying to engineer aircraft solutions that last 10 years,” he continued. “Even if our in-space assets or our terrestrial assets only last five years, it doesn’t matter because we are not messing with the airplane, yet we can continue to deliver ever increasing service on an aircraft.”

The Intelsat ESA as displayed on a show floor. A sign saying "delivers speeds up to 275 Mbps" can be seen directly above the hardware.

Intelsat’s ESA will be OneWeb LEO + MEO and GEO compatible, says Intelsat. Image: Mary Kirby

Who’s going to make the software-defined modem for Intelsat?

“I think everybody’s working hard,” said Bijur. “I think a lot of the vendors know what we want to do. There’s been certainly plenty of discussion in the industry about this. They know where we’re headed. I would say it’s going to come a little bit iteratively over the next couple of years.

“When we get the ESA going, it will be LEO and GEO obviously, because those are the only two that exist. When we get to the MEO that’s when I expect the software-defined modem, so concurrent with MEO. And also, you know, the 2Ku is going to run on the MEO too. So, what I expect for 2Ku’s life cycle is to take it to a multi-orbit modem because the antenna can do it. As ThinKom will tell you, you know all those antennas are capable of doing multi-orbit. The thing is: who’s going to build a modem that can make it happen? And so, like I said, we would like to get to software defined.”

ThinKom’s multi-orbit Ku3030 VICTS antenna is core to the Intelsat 2Ku terminal.

Since the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, the Seamless Air Alliance’s Architecture/Interoperability working group, which boasts Airbus and Boeing as participants, has taken up the discussion around software-defined modems, said Seamless chief consultant — and “satcom guru” — Peter Lemme. “[T]he hardware manufacturers, to converge on a form factor, is like a three- to five-year process. Software-defined modems are leapfrogging that, and that’s really exciting,” he said.

Until software-defined modems are ready for primetime on board aircraft, stakeholders are still reliant on using multiple modems to support multi-orbit IFC.

Adding MEO service to Intelsat’s multi-orbit IFC offering, meanwhile, might also appeal to Airbus and its supplier-furnished HBCplus programme.

During Global EXPO, Airbus formalized its arrangements to include Intelsat and Panasonic Avionics as Ku-band LEO/GEO managed service providers (MSPs) on the programme; both are OneWeb distribution partners in aero. Whilst Airbus is less flexible on mixing up the hardware (having selected Safran Passenger Innovations’ Get SAT ESA-based terminal for the Ku-band and Safran’s ThinKom Ka2517-based terminal for the Ka-band side), the airframer seems to be staying loose on the notion of adding more MSPs and indeed additional constellations. Airbus management also revealed that they’re eyeing the possibility of offering a multi-band solution as part of HBCplus down the road, but say they’re currently focused on the priorities already announced.

“I mean, staying loose is a good idea because space keeps changing and space is going to keep changing and something that’s a sure thing today may not be tomorrow,” warned Intelsat’s Bijur. “And if I told you that Twitter would be gone, a year ago, you’d tell me I’m crazy. But Twitter is gone. So, things change. People make different decisions. You would think that Twitter was something to preserve, but it wasn’t. And so, I’m not just taking a shot at Starlink. I’m simply saying that you have to stay loose and flexible.”

The Safran terminal for Ku-band under HBCplus is different than Intelsat’s chosen ESA. But Bijur noted that flexility is “the idea behind what was created with the ESA. It’s an antenna that can work on GEO, LEO and MEO.”