Having tapped Japan Display Inc (JDI) early this year to develop the multi-band metasurface aperture for its next-generation Ku/Ka-band multi-orbit-capable multi-beam electronically steerable antenna, Kymeta is focused on initially supporting defense customers with the technology. However, the company is confident it will break into the civil aviation market, which has expressed a lot of interest in its innovation.
“So, we’ve actually advanced the development quite a bit since the last announcement we made” in mid-2025, when Kymeta achieved multi-band connectivity with four concurrent beams in Ku- and Ka-band frequencies using a single antenna aperture, company SVP, product management Lilac Muller told Runway Girl Network during the big SATShow conference and exhibition in Washington D.C.
As we wrote last year, the ability for a single compact electronically scanning antenna to simultaneously operate across Ku and Ka bands via satellites in multiple orbits is seen as somewhat of a Holy Grail solution in the defense sector.
“We’ve released specs for our first product. It’s not an aero product. It’s a ground product that we have, and so it’s now maturing in the technology, in the product development cycle,” Muller said, adding:
We’ve announced an availability date. We are selling what we call ‘dev kits’ for partners to develop their solutions. Those will be delivered by the end of this calendar year. These are pre-production units to support development activities. And then a product will be available in Q2 of 2027.
Advancing its technology readiness levels (TRLs), Kymeta expects to start on-air testing this summer.
While the first product from its wider multi-band product line will support land-mobile communications in defense, Kymeta is presently talking to a number of partners “that could help us potentially create an airborne product. And the specs and the timing and all of that will come in due time, once we have the appropriate partnership,” Muller said.
The firm is also studying applications for drones, autonomous systems, and other attritable systems, “where low-profile, low-power, and especially low-cost” ESAs are critical.
Your author spoke with several of Kymeta’s potential partners during both SATShow and the subsequent Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, and can confirm that there is keen interest from inflight connectivity providers for the functionality that Kymeta is espousing. To wit, in a separate activity, SES is developing a multi-band, multi-beam ESA to support next-gen meoSphere MEO + LEO (or alternatively GEO) inflight connectivity.
“We have a strong relationship with SES,” Muller said. “So, meoSphere is an important piece of that Ku/Ka fabric that’s out there, that our antenna is looking to be compatible with.”
Kymeta is also a longtime partner to Eutelsat in non-aero verticals; its existing metamaterials ESA hardware powers OneWeb LEO connectivity for land-mobile, fixed, maritime and, lately, the global rail market.
Unsurprisingly, the firm is now in talks with all the major satellite operators concerning its multi-band multi-beam ESA. And NDAs are in place.
Entering aviation is a notoriously lengthy process. After Kymeta develops the core antenna, the aero terminal must be specced out, and DO-160 certification secured. Thereafter, supplemental type certifications (STCs) would be sought.
“Then there are discussions around linefit someday,” noted Muller. “So, there is a pretty lengthy process that, with the right partner or partners, we’re going to lay out the schedule that would map this out.”
Related Articles:
- Now critical IFC need resiliency, security: Eutelsat’s Bisgaard
- SES advances work on multi-band ESA for meoSphere + LEO IFC
- Airbus open to IFC orchestration should multi-vendor take off
- Viasat readies for new AERA with ViaSat-3, multi-beam ESA
- Kymeta reengages aviation sector with multi-band, multi-orbit ESA
Featured image credited to istock.com/guvendemir
