During the Satellite 2024 conference and exhibition in Washington D.C., RGN sat down with Kfir Benjamin, the CEO of Rehovot, Israel-based antenna-maker Get SAT, which has been acquired by Thales.

Get SAT is providing the electronically steered antenna for Safran Passenger Innovations’ Ku-band terminal for Airbus’ supplier-furnished HBCplus inflight connectivity program.

Of note, in commercial aviation, Get SAT seems very much focused on supporting HBCplus. When asked if Get SAT is willing to partner with multiple operators, inflight connectivity providers, and airlines, Benjamin said: “So, we you know, we respect our deal with SPI/Airbus, and we’re going to stick to that at this point.”

He reckons that HBCplus will be a “game changer” in the industry.

RGN: It’s exciting times for you guys, of course, coming on the back of the Airbus flight testing. Can you tell me a little bit about what that testing entailed and how everyone put the system through its paces?

Kfir Benjamin: So, the process of getting an approved antenna on an Airbus platform is very long. It requires multiple gates in order to get there. So, when we first started developing an antenna, it can never be in a vacuum, right? It has to be with the involvement of Airbus and their standardization, quality control, safety and so forth. One of those gates is actually to take an existing product that we have, and run it through the Airbus let’s call it ‘step one qualification’, which after you do lab testing and all that, you get on an aircraft and you actually see how the terminal performs in a real environment.

So, this is kind of what I would call a step above sanity check because the antenna fully performed during the flight, during runway, during takeoff, during landing, and what is being measured is basically multiple aspects of the terminal performance, whether it’s the receive and transmit, whether it’s the stability on the network, temperatures, etc. You know, a lot of sensors are being measured so we can take samples for the next generation and see where we stand. It’s a very good indication about what’s coming.

RGN: It’s a larger antenna. Does it follow the ARINC 792 footprint? 

Kfir Benjamin: Yes, that’s the goal

RGN: Okay, great. When did you guys get started on developing this technology? It seems almost like you came out of the blue, but surely you were working on it for years in advance?

Kfir Benjamin: I think Get SAT marketing activity is humble, and I don’t think we need to report everything that we do. Not out of secrecy. It’s just that it has no real benefit because vaporware is very easy right? You take a nice color, put whatever spec you want on it, and publish it. But we started to work on this antenna 2 1/2 years ago and as we mainly do a lot of government work this was more dedicated to the government customers we have. And of course, the Airbus program, the SPI Airbus program — which SPI is the integrated lead in this — came due to the success we had with this and the unique technology and the suitability of what the customer at the end wanted.

RGN: Did you develop it as a multi-beam ESA from the beginning?

Kfir Benjamin: Correct. So, the whole goal was to create a terminal that would be multi-orbit. You know we believe that dual beam, two beams should suffice because the way we looked at it is that: we started with the government world, right? So, you have the data channel which is the full duplex transmit and receive and the extra beam was to transmit information to the forces through another satellite, which is either secure or either just a backup, and so it’s a receive-only to get information. Now when the concept of multi-orbit came, you’ve got SpaceX, you got OneWeb, I’m assuming there’s going to be more satellites out there, the SPI Airbus terminal is supposed to break those rules again because it’s going to have two beams on the receive and two beams on the transmit. So essentially you will be able to do OneWeb and the GEO satellite at the same time or vice versa, it doesn’t matter. Or you can choose GEO-only or you can choose OneWeb-only and basically exploit the abilities of the terminal for the passengers’ benefit.

RGN: That’s a key differentiator then for you guys compared to some of the other kit on this show floor, the Airbus implementation of both?

Kfir Benjamin: So, I’m less knowledgeable in the IFC world; we’re knowledgeable in terminals, but we’re trying to let our integrators and partners, they have a value proposition, and they know the market better than us. But if I look technically and from a terminal perspective, I think that’s one of the key value propositions, the dual beam, the ability to control when you want to do what… We have the ability to answer the Airbus requirements in terms of thermals; there’s very good scanning capabilities when you start flying the North Pole, we can do very low elevation scanning, which is a challenge in electronic antennas; I think the efficiency of the antenna itself is a key factor to get the performance, you know in a small form factor. So, it’s never one thing, it’s a combination of things.

RGN: Airbus is talking about a 2026 timeline for availability as part of HBCplus. Is your program tracking towards that as well, do you think that that’s achievable? 

Kfir Benjamin: I think it’s achievable.

RGN: Intelsat obviously is a managed service provider on the program and will be providing service to airlines that choose that Airbus kit. They are talking about potentially launching a small MEO constellation (at least before the later announcement that SES is acquiring Intelsat). If that were to happen, they would want their antenna to be able to talk to LEO, GEO and MEO. What are the prospects of that sort configuration in relation to Get SAT?

Kfir Benjamin: One thing with electronic antennas is that you can adapt them to any constellation assuming the performance is in place. So, I would love to take credit and say ‘yeah, only the Get SAT can do it’, but since a lot of the antenna is based on software, it’s a very easy adaptation to a new network. So, in this particular case, our open architecture and the way we integrate multiple modems — because the modem is a key factor in those systems — then it will be a fairly straightforward integration to any constellation, assuming the frequency is right, assuming everything is in place.

RGN: Will you have a radome in any way, shape or form then?

Kfir Benjamin: No. So again, we’re going back. Get SAT is a terminal system provider, but focusing on antenna and integration modems and ACU, it’s not our forte to do radomes, but also, I think because there are probably other companies that are much better than us in this, but, but I leave it to Airbus. It’s a complicated thing.

RGN: Someone commented on LinkedIn that the picture shared of the military aircraft used [by Airbus] for testing looked like it had a radome atop it and, does that affect the performance in any way?

Kfir Benjamin: And so, I don’t know exactly which radome they used for this specific test. But radomes always have an effect. It’s by nature because you’re passing another screen on the way to the satellite. So, radomes do have an effect. I think SPI is working super hard to get a super-efficient radome in place for this HBCplus program and I have a feeling they’re going to nail it.

RGN: There are a few different arguments in the market as to whether a radome makes sense, whether it’s about drag or protecting it from slush or whatnot, but you don’t really take a position, you’re a step behind that? Your partners will decide what they want to do?

Kfir Benjamin: Right, right. So again, maybe it’s a philosophical thing about how Get SAT works, we don’t believe in stepping on our partners toes and that’s their expertise. Let them do that. We of course advise, we test, we measure, we’re there for them, but it’s not our expertise. So, they will manage that part.

RGN: You will remain agnostic then?

Kfir Benjamin: Completely

RGN: And willing to partner with multiple operators, inflight connectivity providers, airlines, however that shakes out?

Kfir Benjamin: So, we you know, we respect our deal with SPI/Airbus, and we’re going to stick to that at this point.

RGN: So, if SPI presumably in the not too distant also develops the retrofit package for that, you would let them kind of manage that?

Kfir Benjamin: Exactly.

RGN: I understand that Thales has acquired Get SAT, how’s that all going? Has integration started yet? 

Kfir Benjamin: So obviously I can’t speak too many details of that deal, but it’s true that, you know, Get SAT and Thales signed a deal to acquire 100% of Get SAT.

RGN: Congratulations, that’s really impressive.

Kfir Benjamin: Thank you very much… And it’s exciting. I mean they’re a super large company, they like the products, they feel Get SAT is a very agile company that contributes a lot to the overall strategy of Thales. They’re super excited on our progress with SPI and the Airbus program. They’re supporting in every way, shape or form that they can without interfering with the progress.

RGN: Yes, absolutely and they also have a popular FlytLIVE product here in the Americas and I’m hearing that it may evolve to ultimately include the Get SAT hardware. Have you had those discussions yet as to what that might look like? 

Kfir Benjamin: Not at all. Thales, from day one of our discussion have respected every contract Get SAT has and is not planning to step on those.

RGN: Would you like to share anything else about your messaging whether it’s airlines that come here to see and talk to you, or OEMs and suppliers, what is your message for the aero market specifically?

Kfir Benjamin: So, we’re in the aero world for a long time, just a bit of background, but it was on the defense side rather than the commercial airline.

I think what SPI and Airbus did is amazing as a passenger that used Internet all the time and understand the constellations behind it. I think it’s amazing. I think the airlines should really follow closely on what Airbus and SPI are going to offer. And I think, if I understand correctly, if SPI and Airbus will come to the finish line properly, it will truly be a game changer. So, I know I used a lot of buzzwords, but I don’t want to reveal any details that I’m not sure authorized to.