Some 250 airplanes have been fitted with SES’s electronically steerable antenna (ESA)-based multi-orbit inflight connectivity solution, Runway Girl Network can reveal. And several hundred more aircraft are expected to be equipped by the end of the year.
Luxembourg-headquartered SES on 17 July acquired McLean, Virginia-based Intelsat and with it the satellite operator and aero ISP’s contracts for bringing multi-orbit IFC to airlines — as powered by its Ku-band geostationary (GEO) satellites and Eutelsat OneWeb’s Ku-band Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation, for which Intelsat-now-SES is a service distribution partner in aero.
Customers of the ESA-based multi-orbit IFC solution include Air Canada, Aerolíneas Argentinas, American Airlines, Japan Airlines, Royal Brunei Airlines and Skymark Airlines. To date, American Airlines and Air Canada have publicly gone live with the service.
But equipage continues apace, often stealthily, and SES “is on track to have 600 aircraft flying with the new multi-orbit system by the end of the year,” an SES spokesman told Runway Girl Network.
Alaska Airlines’ recent decision to go fleet-wide with Starlink to support free T-Mobile-sponsored Wi-Fi for loyalty members is obviously a disappointment for SES, as Intelsat’s 2Ku content and GEO-focused IFC service is fitted to the carrier’s mainline fleet. Moreover, the multi-orbit IFC offering had been earmarked for E175s flown by regional feeders Horizon and SkyWest.
Explaining its E175 IFC pivot and broader decision to adopt Starlink, Alaska Airlines told RGN: “We’ve valued our partnership with Intelsat over the years and appreciate the service they’ve provided to our guests. While we never moved forward with installing the multi-orbit solution, acquiring Hawaiian Airlines — which already had Starlink on its aircraft — allowed us to see firsthand how guests respond to the offering.
“After evaluating long-term options, we made the decision to transition our entire fleet, including regional aircraft, to Starlink — to deliver a single, consistent, ultra-fast and reliable experience for every guest on every flight.”
For its part, SES said it “values the long and innovative partnership we shared with Alaska Airlines.” And whilst it is disappointed in the Seattle-based carrier’s decision, “SES will continue to support Alaska until the fleet transitions to a single-orbit solution.”
Despite the Alaska disappointment, SES is ramping up aircraft retrofits, and preparing for Boeing linefit installations of the ESA-based multi-orbit offering. To that end, SES has ordered $60 million worth of Gilat Satellite Networks’ Stellar Blu ‘Sidewinder’ single-beam ESA, which forms the basis of its terminal.
SES has also pursued a multi-orbit Medium Earth Orbit (MEO)/GEO-based IFC offering via its Open Orbits ecosystem, which uses ThinKom Solutions’ Ka2517 VICTS antenna and Neo Space Group as its initial aero ISP partner. Customers include Turkish Airlines, Thai Airways International and Uzbekistan Airways.
Additionally, the firm continues to offer the Intelsat 2Ku IFC hardware and service, and counts Cathay Pacific, KLM and LATAM among its airline customers. It is also a key partner to Panasonic Avionics, supporting the IFE giant’s own Ku-band IFC service.
In total, SES boasts 30 commercial airline customers. And now that it has combined forces with Intelsat, it operates 120 satellites, including 30 MEO satellites and 90 GEO satellites, plus it serves as an aero service distribution partner for Eutelsat OneWeb LEO.
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- Alaska Airlines to bring Starlink inflight Wi-Fi to entire fleet
- Eutelsat touts big LEO revenue growth, new South American airline deal
- Intelsat linefit and SB wins see multi-orbit IFC come to E2, 787
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- SES completes Intelsat buy with FCC blessing
Featured image credited to Jason Rabinowitz
