Focus: Aviation

Gogo is acquiring Satcom Direct in a bid to improve its offering for the business aviation and government/military mobility markets. Gogo announced the $375 million deal on Monday. On top of the purchase price, the deal includes up to $225 million in additional milestone payments.  Gogo highlighted each company’s focus on the business aviation market. ...

Air France selected SpaceX’s Starlink business as its satellite provider to upgrade Wi-Fi across its fleet. The deal, announced Sept. 26, is the second recent in-flight connectivity win for Starlink, after the United Airlines announcement earlier this month.  Air France plans to gradually equip its aircraft with Starlink connectivity starting in summer 2025, including its...

Hawaiian Airlines has completed installing Starlink in-flight connectivity (IFC) across its entire Airbus fleet. The airline is now offering Starlink Wi-Fi free of charge for passengers after completing installation on its fleet of 24 Airbus A330 aircraft.  The airline is also planning to install Starlink on its flagship Boeing 787-9 fleet, but not on its...

United Airlines tapped Starlink as its in-flight connectivity (IFC) provider, announcing a deal on Friday to equip the airline’s entire fleet with Starlink and offer the service to passengers for free.  United said this deal covers all aircraft, both mainline and regional, which is more than 1,000 planes. Installation will take place over the next...

Gotonomi has completed a series of successful trials for its UAV satcom terminals and is now ready to take orders for these terminals. The UAV satellite connectivity solutions provider is now able to transition from pre-production flight development kits to type-approved, commercial terminals, enabling scalable beyond visual line of sight operations (BVLOS) for drone operators...

Global satellite operator Viasat announced Wednesday that it has hired Delta Air Lines‘ Senior Vice President of Operational Finance Gary Chase as its new CFO. Chase will start with Viasat on September 16. Viasat’s current CFO Shawn Duffy will remain with the company as its chief accounting officer. Chase spent more than 12 years at...

Poland’s flagship air carrier LOT Polish Airlines awarded Viasat a contract to provide in-flight connectivity for 15 Boeing aircraft in its fleet. This marks the first time LOT will offer in-flight Wi-Fi.  Viasat will equip 15 aircraft in LOT’s wide-body Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 Dreamliner fleet with Ka-band IFC as part of a major upgrade...

Stellar Blu Solutions has completed qualification on the multi-orbit Sidewinder terminal designed to deliver in-flight connectivity (IFC) for airlines. Both Stellar Blu and strategic partner BAE Systems have ramped up production on the terminal to meet more than 1,000 existing orders.  The Ku-band terminal received DO-160 airborne equipment qualification in March and then completed flight...

Gilat Satellite Networks reported that it has recently secured more than $14 million in orders from service providers and system integrators for its in-flight connectivity (IFC) products and solutions.  These include orders for network equipment, solid state power amplifiers (SSPAs), and additional IFC auxiliary products. Gilat is working to increase its presence in the IFC...

Viasat will equip a fleet of Airbus C295 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) with Ku- and Ka-band satcom for the Spanish Ministry of Defence (MoD). Viasat announced Thursday that it will work with Airbus Defence and Space to integrate its dual-band (Ku/Ka) broadband terminal, the GAT-5530, into the Spanish C295 MPA fleet. This will give the...