Gogo Business Aviation has announced its Gogo Galileo product line with the unveiling of a second electronically steered antenna (ESA) form factor for use on its Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband solution.

Gogo Galileo now offers two fuselage-mount antennas, the previously announced HDX antenna, designed with a small form factor to fit on any size business aircraft, and this announcement of the FDX antenna, which is designed to fit on larger aircraft and will deliver best-in-class performance.

“With the introduction of the FDX antenna, our Avance platform now offers a complete portfolio of North American air-to-ground (ATG) and global LEO products to meet the unique needs of each segment of the business aviation market,” says Sergio Aguirre, Gogo's president and chief operating officer. “We have solutions to fit any aircraft size, flying any mission, whether the owner is focused on value, high performance or redundancy, all coupled with our award-winning customer support.”

Gogo designed and engineered both antennas in close collaboration with Hughes Network Systems, an EchoStar company, and Hughes will be the manufacturer.

“Leveraging the research and development investment of the HDX antenna, we have successfully accelerated our roadmap of bringing a second, best-in-class antenna to the market,” Aguirre goes on. “FDX will maximise the capacity and performance of the OneWeb network for nearly 8,000 global heavy jet operators.”

The FDX antenna is a premier solution offering all the benefits of the more compact HDX antenna, while offering faster data speeds, higher throughput and lower latency than current geosynchronous (GEO) satellite systems can deliver, supporting multiple unique VPN, interactive video and gaming sessions simultaneously.

“We're proud to support Gogo as it continues to enhance its world-class inflight broadband system for business aviation,” comments Reza Rasoulian, vice president, Hughes. “Thanks to the dynamic partnership between Gogo and Hughes, combined with our engineering expertise and close collaboration with OneWeb, Gogo Business Aviation customers will soon realise an unmatched LEO connectivity experience worldwide.”

When Gogo Galileo launches, Gogo will be able to offer the fastest and highest capacity inflight connectivity products in North America through a combined LEO and 5G superior solution enabled by the Avance platform's unique multi-bearer capability.

“We're excited to see Gogo's continued progress alongside the very tangible progress OneWeb has made in recent weeks with the completion of our LEO constellation, and the continued roll out of our ground infrastructure,” says Jason Sperry, head of business aviation for OneWeb. “It's clear that together we mean business.”

The Avance platform has been intentionally designed to provide easy upgrade paths to new technologies and networks. In the case of Gogo Galileo, any aircraft with an Avance product installed (L3, L5 or SCS), will only need to add the FDX or HDX antenna to the fuselage to access the benefits of LEO network technology.

Gogo Business Aviation is also going through the process to secure the first-article STC for its Gogo Galileo HDX system on the Bombardier Challenger 300 series of aircraft.

“The Bombardier Challenger 300 is one of the most popular super midsize jets on the market, making it a perfect candidate for our Gogo Galileo HDX system,” explains Aguirre. “Pursuing the STC for parts manufacture approval (PMA) is a critical step as we ready for commercial launch next year.”

Nearly 900 Challenger 300 series aircraft (300, 350 and 3500 models) have been sold since its inception in 2004, and 595 are installed with a Gogo air-to-ground (ATG) system. Approximately half of the 595 are equipped with Avance, Gogo's industry-leading platform, providing an easy path for upgrade to the newly announced Gogo Galileo product line, harnessing the power of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) network technology.

Duncan Aviation, the largest family-owned maintenance, repair and overhaul service provider in the US, is providing engineering and certification services to Gogo for the STC.