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JetWave X satellite communications antenna.
Honeywell’s new JetWave X satellite communications terminal, slated to enter service for business aviation later this year, can integrate capacity from multiple satellite networks in different orbits, the manufacturer says.
The latest generation JetWave X terminal features advanced data control (ADC) routing software that enables data transmission using Ka-band frequencies over geostationary (GEO) and low earth orbit (LEO) satellite networks. It supports high-speed connectivity with current and future ViaSat-3 and Global Xpress GEO satellites operated by Viasat as well as coming LEO Ka-band networks.
“We are thinking about a future where a business jet aircraft has multiple high-speed systems,” said Honeywell Services & Connectivity President Jason Wissink. “How do you get that to function as one cohesive solution versus two separate systems? Our view is that’s really the way to maximize the value for customers.”
Wissink described capabilities of JetWave X during an Aviation Week Network sponsored webinar Aug. 26. Honeywell announced in July that it had established over-the-air connectivity of the new satcom terminal with Viasat’s GEO Ka-band satellite network, bringing the system closer to certification.
Designed for super midsize and large-cabin business jets using tail-mount antennas for reception, JetWave X is the next generation of Honeywell’s legacy JetWave satcom terminal, which is flying on some 2,000 business jets.
The embedded ADC capability of JetWave X combines the dynamic capacity of GEO networks with the fixed capacity but lower latency of LEO networks that aircraft now connect to using fuselage-mounted electronically steerable antennas. The software enables “packet duplication” over both network links, Wissink said, providing for consistent service if one link is interrupted.
“Both have strengths; both have weaknesses,” he said. “Our thought is, if you overlay this together, you really end up with the best of both worlds. That’s the reason we embedded advanced data control into JetWave X because we think that especially for larger cabin business jets and supermids, we’re going to see more and more multi-system installations.”
The current SpaceX Starlink and Gogo Galileo connectivity services are LEO-based, Ku-band networks. In April, Viasat announced an agreement with Canadian satellite operator Telesat to integrate the Telesat Lightspeed LEO Ka-band network into its multi-orbit services offering. Amazon’s fledgling Kuiper constellation is also a LEO Ka-band network.
Honeywell is developing an “economical upgrade path” for current JetWave customers to transition to JetWave X, Wissink said.
“We’re working to accomplish that with our MRO partners [by] going through as much reuse as possible with the existing installation, whether it’s trays, wiring, in many cases the radomes themselves can be reused,” he said.
“And there will be commercial incentives as well—think of trade-in programs, service credits, things like that,” Wissink added. “We want to make sure that if a current JetWave customer decides they want to upgrade, they get a preferential path to do it because the investment in JetWave has already been made.”
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