ThinKom Solutions has announced a major milestone for its IFC antennas.
The Ku3030 aero satellite antennas have been installed on more than 1,550 commercial aircraft of 16 major airlines, accruing over 17 million flight hours and achieving in excess of 100,000 hours mean-time-before-failure (MTBF) while supporting industry-leading 98%.
ThinKom has also reported the Ku3030 antennas recently completed successful OEM line-fit qualification testing by major airframe manufacturers.
“While we’re proud of our impressive record of best-in-class performance and reliability metrics for our patented VICTS antenna technology to date, we’re not resting on our laurels. We continue making operational software enhancements to further improve reliability and the network efficiency of our systems,” said Bill Milroy, chief technology officer of ThinKom Solutions, who added that the software updates can easily be uploaded to existing aircraft installations.
The company has also confirmed that its antennas comply with the latest international regulatory requirements, including ITU Article 22, which restricts NGSO terminal emissions to GEO satellites, and the new WRC-19 ESIM rules to protect terrestrial 5G networks operating in the Ka-band from interference emitted by airborne satellite terminals.
ThinKom’s Ka-band IFC antennas, using the same VICTS technology, are now in production. The Ka2517 antennas are fully operational on a fleet of US government aircraft and are nearing introduction on several commercial airline fleets. Multiple supplemental type certificates (STCs) are in process and are expected to be awarded this year.
ThinKom has worked closely with Gogo to develop an economical and efficient process to convert 2Ku systems to Ka-band for airlines seeking to transition to a Ka IFC solution.
