[Satellite TODAY 03-06-13] GE Aviation has singed a new agreement to provide inertial reference units for Boeing’s wideband phased array satellite communications systems for airborne mobile communications.

   The inertial reference unit provides the technology to deliver orientation and position using Global Positioning System (GPS) data for next-generation satellite communication systems. This can be used for land vehicles, airborne and seaborne applications for the purposes of surveillance, target acquisition, and satellite antenna pointing. The reference unit combines inertial data and GPS data to provide the user with high-accuracy continuous location, heading, pitch, and roll data in both stationary and moving vehicles.

   Boeing’s Ka-band phased-array satcom antenna system allows customers to take advantage of the significant increase in bandwidth offered by next-generation Ka-band satellites to transport data between aircraft in flight and the ground network.