Paves The Way For Worldwide Datalink WX Service

The world just got a little smaller... and that's great news for pilots. Avidyne announced Monday at NBAA 2008 its MLX770 Satellite Datalink Transceiver has received system certification by Iridium Satellite LLC. The approval gives Avidyne the authority to operate on the global Iridium satellite network, paving the way for the launch of Avidyne's worldwide datalink weather service.

"We are pleased to welcome Avidyne to the growing family of value-added partners," said Don Thoma, executive vice president of Iridium Satellite. "Avidyne's Datalink product leverages Iridium's global connectivity and robust two-way low-latency data channels to develop innovative new products for the burgeoning aeronautical satcom market."

The MLX770 will provide huge situational awareness and safety benefits for all those Avidyne customers flying in airspace outside the continental United States (CONUS) where broadcast datalink weather information is unavailable. Avidyne customers operating within CONUS now have the option of Broadcast Datalink via Sirius or XM, Two-way Datalink using the MLX770 and Iridium... or Avidyne's exclusive MultiLink, which combines the benefits of broadcast datalink and two-way datalink for added redundancy and increased capability.

"This certification by Iridium represents the clearing of another major technical and programmatic hurdle for Avidyne," said Patrick Herguth, Avidyne's Chief Operating Officer. "This moves us another step closer to meeting the launch date for our worldwide datalink weather system."

Utilizing Avidyne's Network Operations Center (NOC) and the Iridium low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation, the MLX770 delivers strategic datalink weather services to Entegra- and EX500-equipped aircraft. The MLX770 also provides two-way textual communications available with satellite signal coverage at all altitudes, even on the ground. Datalink weather services include graphical and textual METARs, TAFs, and Winds & Temperatures Aloft.

Radar and Lightning are also available as premium offerings. Additionally, the MLX770 provides convenient two-way SMS text messaging from the airborne Avidyne MFD to any ground-based SMS-capable mobile phone or e-mail address, allowing pilots to communicate with family and friends from their aircraft in flight.

Introduced earlier this year, the MLX770 is on target to begin initial shipments in mid-Q4 2008 as originally scheduled, according to Avidyne. Pricing starts at $11,995 USD plus installation.

FMI: www.iridium.com, www.avidyne.com