ThinKom Solutions Supplies Phased-Array Antennas to GDC Technics for Inmarsat’s New GX Aviation Inflight Broadband Services

December 7, 2020

ThinKom’s low-profile Ka-band VICTS antennas have been selected for Inmarsat’s GX Aviation broadband satellite IFC solutions after extensive in-flight testing with system integrator GDC Technics. (Photo courtesy of GDC)

ThinKom Solutions, Inc., today announced it is supplying its ThinAir^® Ka2517 aero satellite antennas to GDC Technics, in support of Inmarsat’s next-generation GX terminal and associated inflight broadband services.

ThinKom’s low-profile Ka-band phased-array antenna was selected by Inmarsat based on its impressive record of reliability and performance. The selection was the culmination of more than 18 months of collaboration and field testing by ThinKom and GDC.

The Ka2517 will serve as a critical enabling technology underpinning Inmarsat’s GX Aviation broadband satellite inflight connectivity (IFC) solutions, including the new GX+ North American IFC service announced by Inmarsat and Hughes Network Systems earlier this year.

The Ka2517 antenna is based on ThinKom’s patented VICTS technology. VICTS antennas have accumulated over 18 million operational hours on more than 1,550 commercial aircraft, with a mean-time-between-failure (MTBF) of over 100,000 hours.

ThinKom’s low-profile radome minimizes drag and reduces fuel usage. The VICTS antenna provides industry-leading spectral efficiency and throughput, as well as uninterrupted pole-to-pole connectivity at extremely high and low elevation angles. In addition, the antenna’s very low power consumption translates into very low heat generation inside the radome, enabling uninterrupted gate-to-gate operation even during high ambient temperatures with full solar loading.

“The Ka2517 antenna fully complies with new regulatory requirements, including WRC-19 EISM and ITU Article 22, ensuring non-interference with terrestrial 5G cellular networks or with GEO satellites when being used on NGSO networks,” observed Bill Milroy, chairman and chief technical officer of ThinKom Solutions. “It also offers the switching speeds and agility to interoperate seamlessly with new multi-layered GEO, HEO and NGSO satellite networks.”

GDC’s next-generation IFC terminals with ThinKom’s antennas have received a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) on Boeing B737-700 aircraft. GDC has planned a full range of STCs in early 2021 for the Airbus A320 family, additional B737 models, and Boeing B787 and B777 aircraft.