ThinKom Solutions and Telesat announced a teaming agreement to collaborate on integrating ThinKom’s Ka2517 aeronautical antennas with the advanced Telesat Lightspeed LEO satellite broadband network. The two companies will work together to facilitate operations of the Ka2517 antennas on the fully integrated 298 satellite and ground network, which is expected to begin services in 2023. The efforts under the agreement will include integration of the Ka2517 as a complete aeronautical User Terminal solution, followed by formal type approval of the Ka2517 on the Telesat Lightspeed network.
Based on the high performance and efficiency of the Ka2517 antennas and Telesat’s advanced LEO satellite network, downlink speeds are expected to reach up to 830 Mbps and uplink speeds up to 200 Mbps to a single aircraft. Ka2517 antennas have already been successfully tested on Telesat’s Phase 1 LEO satellite, validating tracking of the LEO satellite, extremely high spectral efficiencies, and ultra-low latency of 20-40 msec. Additional testing will be conducted to validate both intra- and inter-satellite handovers on the Ka2517 terminal when the Telesat Lightspeed satellites are in orbit.
The Ka2517, utilising ThinKom’s patented VICTS (Variable Inclination Continuous Transverse Stub) technology, is DO-160-approved and currently in full production with multiple Supplemental Type Certificates awarded for both Airbus and Boeing aircraft. ThinKom expects hundreds of these Ka-band aero antennas to be operating on geostationary (GEO) satellites when the Telesat Lightspeed network is ready to support commercial service. It will be straightforward and inexpensive for an airline to modify any of these installed GEO-only Ka2517 antenna systems to interoperate with the Telesat Lightspeed LEO satellite constellation and existing GEO networks.
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