Says They're 'On Track' for 2021 Launch

SmartSky announced the completion of all technical milestones and the opening of the first fully operational coverage zone of its inflight communications network, enabling route-based flight demonstrations and marking an inflection point on its path to certification and commercial launch later this year.

SmartSky believes it has proven it can provide office-grade, bi-directional, multi-Mbps inflight connectivity with very low latency for business jet and turboprop flights transiting the network’s Southeastern corridor that covers a large contiguous portion of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.

SmartSky CEO, David Helfgott, remarked, “While our primary goal remains lighting up the remainder of the nationwide network in the coming months, today we are showcasing the unparalleled inflight networking capabilities and advanced services that SmartSky is bringing to market for the connected aircraft ecosystem of operators, manufacturers, service providers and passengers.”

Months of field testing have ensured that the entire system performs to specification. Extensive technical milestones have been achieved including seamless site-to-site handover across varying speeds, altitudes, and ranges with consistently high data throughput above both rural and densely populated urban areas.

SmartSky’s patented beamforming and spectrum re-use technologies performed across sectors and sites throughout the entire corridor, proving the novel network’s design functions well even in the presence of high signal noise from ground-based Wi-Fi systems.

“It’s a testament to the strength of our technical team and supplier-partners, as together we’ve successfully developed and fielded a feature-complete, game-changing service based on an optimal mix of proven 4G LTE and emerging 5G technologies that have been adapted to and optimized for the aviation use-case,” said Dave Claassen, SmartSky’s Chief Technology Officer.

FMI: www.SmartSkyNetworks.com