Inmarsat and Hughes
bring inflight connectivity to North America
20 October 2020
A major strategic
collaboration with Inmarsat and Hughes Network
Systems, LLC marks an important new step change
for North American commercial airlines and their
passengers.
GX+ North America is a
transformational aviation connectivity solution
has been specifically designed for North
American commercial airlines and is available
today. It seamlessly integrates the unrivalled
capacity of the Hughes JUPITER™ High-Throughput
Satellite (HTS) constellation across North
America with the extensive worldwide coverage
and resilience of our Global Xpress (GX) HTS
satellite network. Together they bring a unique
combination of unprecedented capacity, speed and
reliability to the region, unavailable from any
other satellite provider.
The ground-breaking new
solution underscores our strategic vision beyond
the pandemic and into the future needs of
commercial airline fleets in North America,
whose passengers will require ubiquitous
connectivity as they return to the skies.
Data-hungry passengers
The ultra-high capacity of
GX+ North America will, for the first time, make
it possible for North American airlines to meet
increasing passenger demand, including the surge
in traffic expected from free-of-charge inflight
Wi-Fi. Today, satellite networks are trying to
serve thousands of commercial aircraft in the
world’s busiest airspace, and as they reach
capacity, airlines will struggle to meet the
demands of data-hungry passengers who want
reliable, affordable, high-speed Wi-Fi while on
board.
For too long, North
American airline passengers have had to settle
for constrained bandwidth activities such as
email and limited messaging while on board
flights. GX+ North America will give passengers
the freedom to stream videos and audio, shop
online, check and update social media, and catch
up on work, all while in the air.
The superior capabilities
of GX+ North America mean that North American
airlines no longer need to compromise on speed,
reliability, availability or coverage for
inflight broadband, even when flying at full
capacity over the busiest airport hubs. This
also offers full flexibility for route planning,
even on short notice, as the solution can cover
any route worldwide through the GX global
network — whether to Hawaii, Canada, Bermuda,
the Caribbean, across the Gulf of Mexico, to
Central and South America, across the Atlantic
or even to the most extreme northern latitudes.
Game-changing collaboration
Rupert Pearce, CEO of
Inmarsat, said: “GX has firmly established
itself as the reference inflight connectivity
solution for today’s demanding passengers and is
used by airlines worldwide. We are very
confident that this game-changing collaboration
with Hughes, combining their market-leading
depth of capacity with Inmarsat’s award-winning
passenger connectivity solution, uniquely
delivers inflight broadband that is consistently
superior regardless of the number of passengers
using the service or where they are travelling.
“It is truly a ‘no
compromise’ solution for airlines that no other
service provider can offer. We’ve also ensured
the transition path for airlines upgrading from
other connectivity providers is simple, quick
and cost efficient.
“This strategic
collaboration is further evidence of Inmarsat’s
strength, resilience and innovation despite
these unprecedented times in our industry. As a
number of connectivity providers in North
America face financial challenges and airlines
are forced to reconsider their choice of
supplier, Inmarsat’s offer continues to go from
strength to strength.”
New era
Paul Gaske, Executive Vice
President and General Manager, North America
division at Hughes, said: “We are proud to
partner with Inmarsat to launch GX+ North
America. This collaboration leverages the full
power of the JUPITER System, including the depth
of capacity of our Ka-band High-Throughput
Satellite fleet, as well as our JUPITER gateways
and modems. Combining the Hughes JUPITER System
and Inmarsat’s leading inflight connectivity
solution, GX+ North America marks a new era for
inflight connectivity.”
The new solution will be
provided and managed end-to-end by Inmarsat.
Prototype flights are expected to start later
this year with commercial availability scheduled
for 2021.
GX+ North America utilises
a robust Ka-band flat panel antenna from
Thinkom, with millions of flight hours behind
it, together with smart dual aero modem
technology powered by our aviation solutions
that intelligently chooses the optimal satellite
path with no service interruption or delay for
passengers.
Evolving needs
Looking forward, as
commercial aviation returns to growth and
aircraft return to the skies, we will continue
to anticipate and respond to the North American
market’s evolving needs with Hughes.
Expanding the service over
the next four years alone, the Hughes and
Inmarsat combined constellation of seven GX and
JUPITER satellites will more than double to a
total of 15 spacecraft. These additional
satellites include the Hughes ultra-high
capacity JUPITER 3 satellite and our seven
advanced, fully-funded next generation GX
satellite payloads (6A, 6B, 7, 8, 9, 10A & 10B),
which will enhance capacity and coverage
throughout the world, including the Arctic.