Presently in the process of in-orbit testing its ViaSat-3 F2 satellite, Viasat is convinced that the spacecraft’s capabilities are going to knock people’s socks off, and be a game-changer for inflight connectivity.

Manufactured by Boeing, ViaSat-3 F2 is a flexible, ultra-high-capacity Ka-band geostationary (GEO) satellite that’s expected to more than double the capacity of Viasat’s existing fleet. It reached its orbital slot in March.

Since then, Viasat has conducted tests and simulations of F2, including by putting it “side by side with current in-service LEO” like a “blind taste test,” Don Buchman, president, Viasat Aviation, explained to RGN at the Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) in Hamburg, where the firm also showcased a mockup of its next-generation, multi-orbit, multi-beam phased array antenna.

While there are “slight differences” between what Viasat is seeing between GEO and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) connectivity, Buchman said, ViaSat-3 F2’s “fast web browsing” and “responsiveness” are evident.

“I think the public and the airlines are going to be really impressed.”

Viasat’s Ka-band satcom service is presently powering IFC on 12,000 flights per day. Once F2 comes on line, expected in May, Viasat-fitted aircraft operating within the F2 footprint over the Americas will see immediate benefit.

“The future is when basically you just turn the key and it’s there. And so that’s what’s exciting for me. I know it. And I know there’s a lot of skepticism because all the vendors talk about the next thing. And so, I think, wait for your socks to be blown off again,” enthused Buchman.

As readers are aware, Viasat disrupted the IFC space in 2013 when it supported JetBlue’s launch of free, fast, streaming-quality service, including by using its high-capacity ViaSat-1 satellite. As it launched and then brought ViaSat-2 on line, the wins kept on coming, including with US majors American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta.

But a reflector deployment anomaly on the next-gen ViaSat-3 F1 satellite slowed down execution of its full ViaSat-3 vision. And since then, JetBlue and Delta have gone multi-source, adding forthcoming Amazon Leo to the mix, while United has gone all-in on Starlink. (American is reportedly considering Starlink.)

To Buchman’s point about skepticism from other vendors, it’s true that there’s no shortage of naysayers, who not only pour cold water on the notion that GEO has a real future in IFC but also on Viasat’s prospects in the face of LEO competition.

But Buchman seemed unperturbed at AIX.

“ViaSat-3 is going to unlock that next generation,” he said. “So, I think when the market sees ViaSat-3, they’re going to realize, while LEO is really good to have for that 10% of the applications, I’m getting pretty much everything I need with ViaSat-3.”

He added:

While Viasat will support residential service in certain markets with ViaSat-3 F2, and feed the rest of its verticals, “it’s going to be in aero first” given the install base and the number of flights and the overall expected impact on the aero market.

In short, Viasat plans to throw its might at the aero market.

ViaSat-3 F3 for Asia-Pacific is slated to launch on 27 April. “When you add that to it, what we’re seeing is we’ve simulated the experience. And I think the market’s going to be pretty impressed,” said Buchman.

According to the Viasat executive, the Carlsbad, California-based satellite operator and aero ISP will update investors about its F2 testing progress in the near-term, when the reflector deployment and other work have reached a certain milestone.

Pulling back the curtain on AERA

In the meantime, Viasat is also celebrating the fact that it has (now formally) entered Boeing’s technical evaluation process to assess and qualify its next-gen, Ka-band multi-orbit, multi-beam AERA electronically steerable antenna (ESA) across all current Boeing commercial aircraft programs, as supported by the Boeing Aerodynamic Shroud.

RGN got up close and personal with a mockup of AERA at AIX, after Viasat announced its pact with Boeing.

“You can see the mockup of our new aero terminal right behind you; that’s the other side of the aero shroud,” Buchman said in reference to how AERA will be tucked inside the low-profile Boeing Aerodynamic Shroud, which enables a variety of ESAs to be efficiently integrated atop the fuselage of Boeing aircraft.

As a multi-beam piece of hardware, AERA is capable of transmitting and receiving data over both GEO and Viasat partner Telesat’s forthcoming Lightspeed LEO satellite network at the same time. Lightspeed is expected to offer global service in early 2028. (Aircraft fitted with Viasat’s current Ka-band gimbaled antenna system will also be able to support multi-orbit GEO/Lightspeed LEO IFC. However, this Amara-branded offering is capable of ferrying data over one pipe or the other, GEO or LEO, as opposed to simultaneously over AERA.)

“We’ve always had phased array technologies. But GEO and phased array is not a great fit because basically the antenna kind of gets worse as you go higher in latitudes, which is why we always said we needed a LEO complement as part of it, and Lightspeed coming on line has been fantastic. It allowed us to take a great technology and now we think we’re delivering a product that the market is going to really value,” Buchman said, confirming that AERA is based on an in-house design.

Interestingly, our conversation with Viasat transpired just a few hours after Airbus revealed it will support a multi-orbit, multi-beam, multi-band ESA architecture as part of its linefit, supplier-furnished HBCplus program.

The new so-called HBCplus modular approach, which will accommodate a wide variety of vendors, holds appeal for Viasat. “What they’re doing is right lockstep to what we’re already doing,” Buchman said.

Will Viasat ultimately swing back around and become a managed service provider (MSP) on HBCplus for the modular offering?

We’ll keep our ears to the ground on that one.

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• Viasat sees future opportunities to reengage with Starlink adopters

• Gilat confident on entering Airbus catalog as airframer goes modular

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• How Boeing Global Services is supporting Starlink installs on 787s

• Telesat further optimizes Lightspeed for defense, sees schedule slip

• Viasat pursues TSA with Boeing to obtain offerability for Aera

• Press Release: Airbus reveals HBCplus modular antenna option

• Press Release: Viasat AERA now under technical evaluation by Boeing

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