• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • NEWS:
  • SatNews
  • SatMagazine
  • MilSatMagazine
  • SmallSat News
  • |     EVENTS:
  • SmallSat Symposium
  • Satellite Innovation
  • MilSat Symposium

SatNews

  • HOME
  • Magazines
  • Events
  • Perspectives
  • Industry Calendar
    • IN PERSON
    • VIRTUAL
  • Subscribe

ThinKom’s IFC Antennas Achieve LEO, MEO + GEO Satellite Interoperability

June 22, 2020

ThinKom’s Ka-band IFC Antenna

ThinKom Solutions, Inc., has announced their Ku3030 aero satellite antennas have been installed on more than 1,550 commercial aircraft of 16 major airlines.

The antennas have accrued more than 17 million flight hours and have achieved in excess of 100,000 hours mean-time-before-failure (MTBF) while supporting industry-leading 98 percent end-to-end system availability.

The Ku3030, underpinned by ThinKom’s patented VICTS flat-panel phased array technology, is the core antenna subsystem employed by Gogo in its 2Ku in-flight connectivity (IFC) systems.

ThinKom also reported the Ku3030 antennas recently completed successful OEM line-fit qualification testing by major airframe manufacturers.

ThinKom’s Ka-band IFC antennas, using the same VICTS technology, are now in production. The Ka2517 antennas are fully operational on a fleet of U.S. government aircraft and are nearing introduction on several commercial airline fleets. Multiple supplemental type certificates (STCs) are in process and are expected to be awarded this year.

ThinKom has worked closely with Gogo to develop an economical and efficient process to convert 2Ku systems to Ka-band for airlines seeking to transition to a Ka IFC solution. This offering is a very cost-effective procedure which can be completed during an overnight service.

In recent months, ThinKom’s Ku- and Ka-band IFC antennas completed multiple ground and in-flight tests demonstrating seamless interoperability across low-Earth orbit (LEO), medium-Earth orbit (MEO) and high-throughput geostationary (GEO) satellite constellations. The live on-air testbeds included OneWeb LEO, Telesat LEO 1 and SES’ GEO and O3b MEO satellites.

In all cases, the ThinKom antennas met or exceeded all test parameters, including spectral efficiency, data throughput rates, beam agility, switching speeds, ASI interference, low-angle tracking and inter-constellation roaming.

The company has also confirmed that its antennas comply with the latest international regulatory requirements, including ITU Article 22, which restricts NGSO terminal emissions to GEO satellites, and the new WRC-19 ESIM rules to protect terrestrial 5G networks operating in the Ka-band from interference emitted by airborne satellite terminals.

“While we’re proud of our impressive record of best-in-class performance and reliability metrics for our patented VICTS antenna technology to date, we’re not resting on our laurels. We continue making operational software enhancements to further improve reliability and the network efficiency of our systems,” said Bill Milroy, CTO of ThinKom Solutions, who added that the software updates can easily be uploaded to existing aircraft installations. We’re looking to a future that will be characterized by multiple frequency bands and satellite constellations, and we’re actively working to ensure our IFC solutions provide the required rapid switching speeds and agility to track and switch seamlessly and reliably between beams, satellites and constellations. The ability of ThinKom’s VICTS antennas to effectively operate between satellite networks is the key enabler for IFC systems being able to operate globally and benefit from the lowest latency available.”

ThinKom’s ThinAir KA2517 Phased Array Antenna

Filed Under: Antennas / Terminals

Primary Sidebar

Most Read Stories

  • CORRECTION: Blue Origin launches their 5th human spaceflight mission
  • neXat empowers affordable satellite internet for Indonesian businesses 
  • Satellogic is a finalist for “Company Award 2022” by the European Association of Remote Sensing Companies
  • UPDATE 6: Lunar Transfer Orbit achieved by Rocket Lab for the NASA CAPSTONE smallsat — 1st deep space mission success for the company
  • SES and Vodafone PNG to deliver 4G and 5G services to underserved areas in Papua New Guinea

About Satnews

  • Contacts
  • History

Archives

  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020

Secondary Sidebar

x
Sign up Now (For Free)
Access daily or weekly satellite news updates covering all aspects of the commercial and military satellite industry.
Invalid email address
Notify Me Regarding ( At least one ):
We value your privacy and will not sell or share your email or other information with any other company. You may also unsubscribe at anytime.

Click Here to see our full privacy policy.
Thanks for subscribing!