ViaSat, Jet Aviation St. Louis Collaborate on Industry-First Hybrid Ku-/Ka-Band Radome for Gulfstream Large Cabin Business Jets

November 17, 2015

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ViaSat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global broadband services and technology company, and Jet Aviation St. Louis, today announced they are partnering to develop the first-ever hybrid Ku-/Ka-band radome for Gulfstream's large cabin business jets, starting with the Gulfstream G550. The agreement covers collaboration on both the new dual-band radome and associated Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) to ensure Gulfstream aircraft equipped with the new hybrid system can access the fastest, most robust satellite-based in-cabin internet system available.

The agreement leverages ViaSat's expertise in delivering fast broadband connectivity equipment and service to today's aviation market and Jet Aviation's experience in the installation of satellite systems and associated in-cabin networks. ViaSat has already developed and deployed a fuselage-mounted hybrid Ku-/Ka-band radome to the commercial and government aviation markets based on its fuselage-mounted Ka-band and Ku-/Ka-bands shipsets. ViaSat, in working with Jet Aviation St. Louis, will expand its advanced aviation materials and fabrication IP to build this tail-mounted Ku-/Ka-band radome. The radome will support both ViaSat's 30 cm Ku-band antenna and its advanced Ka-band antenna separately or in a dual configuration.

"We are enabling business aviation operators to protect their satcom investments for in-service aircraft while providing them the equipment needed for a next-generation cabin experience," said Ken Peterman, senior vice president and general manager, ViaSat. "Having Jet Aviation St. Louis as a partner brings us the knowledge and capabilities of a world recognized leader in aircraft completion and avionics installation. They understand satellite systems and have complementary skills in designing in-cabin networks."

"We are seeing high demand from existing customers that want to deploy ViaSat's global high-capacity internet service for business applications like Voice over IP, VPN connectivity and high-definition conference calls," said David Loso, Avionics Sales, Jet Aviation St. Louis. "By collaborating with ViaSat on the Ku-/Ka-band radome and STC, we can ensure Gulfstream business jet passengers stay connected no matter where they fly. We also look forward to leveraging our experience with tail-mounted systems to potentially shorten the installation time for this shipset to help meet increasing demand."

Source : ViaSat, Inc.