Intelsat has completed a series of historic test flights on the company’s test aircraft, a CRJ-700 regional jet, which is equipped with an Electronically Steered Array (ESA) antenna.
The flight tests to the Arctic Circle demonstrated that carriers requiring in-flight internet connectivity on long-haul flights at extreme northerly latitudes can access low-latency, high-throughput service at any point on their route map.
Dave Bijur, the company’s Senior Vice President of Commercial Aviation commented: “Airlines and their passengers have never had access to polar connectivity, but Intelsat made history as the first inflight connectivity provider to provide high-speed internet service above the Arctic Circle.
“This is an important region for airlines operating intercontinental flights. Thanks to Intelsat’s multi-orbit satellite service and ESA antenna, millions of international passengers flying on polar routes will enjoy reliable, non-stop connectivity from gate to gate.”
Intelsat operated its test aircraft from Seattle, Washington on 17 December 2023 to Anchorage, Alaska which is located at roughly 61° north, making it the northernmost city in the world served by major airlines. According to Intelsat, the flight was operated using Intelsat’s fleet of geostationary (GEO) satellites, proving high-throughput GEO service is available using Intelsat ESA at all global airline hubs.
Intelsat also operated a round-trip flight from Anchorage to Utqiaġvik, Alaska (located at latitude of 71° north, the same as many polar routes connecting Asia, North America and Europe) on 18 December 2023. It used OneWeb’s fleet of low-Earth orbit satellites and Intelsat says the flight demonstrated that high-speed, low latency performance is available even in a challenging geographic region that previously never had in-flight internet service.
Pat Walsh, Senior Vice President of Engineering said: “The two tests validated the capabilities of Intelsat’s multi-orbit solution for airlines.
“As the aircraft travelled due north from Anchorage into the Arctic Circle, we seamlessly connected to the OneWeb low-Earth orbit constellation delivering 150 megabits per second inflight and on the ground in Alaska. In addition, near the polar region, Intelsat’s GEO operations exceeded expectations, delivering a reliable, high-speed connection all the way to Anchorage.”
Ben Griffin, VP Mobility at Eutelsat OneWeb said: “We congratulate Intelsat on this milestone moment, made possible by OneWeb’s low Earth orbit constellation. This continuous connectivity across all routes and latitudes is a game changer for international airlines flying between East and West across the polar region. This historic flight validates the 5C’s of connectivity that together OneWeb and Intelsat can deliver to our airline customer namely – coverage, capacity, connection, consistency, and community.”
