Honeywell and Racal have joined forces with a South African company to market a lightweight and low-cost satcom system which, the companies say, will prove ideal for use on board smaller business jets. Dubbed the SCS-1000 Mini-M, the system was pioneered by OmniPless (Pty) Ltd which is already a leading supplier of Inmarsat antenna subsystems. The most innovative feature of the SCS-1000 is the antenna and steering solution which enables the system to be used on aircraft.\rIt is based on the land mobile Mini-M format, which takes advantage of the spot beam capabilities of the latest generation Inmarsat-3 satellites. Mini-M Aero service was approved by Inmarsat in March this year, and the SCS-1000 is said to have become the only such system currently type approved following extensive flight trials held off Cape Town. The Honeywell/Racal satcom team will be responsible for marketing, distribution and product support for the system, which it believes will prove attractive to small and medium business jet users because its cost is significantly lower than other Satcom solutions and its components are small and lightweight, allowing for flexible installation options. Honeywell will also offer its OneLinkTM communication service with the SCS-1000. This is the same service as is used by the company's Aero H, Aero H+ and Aero I customers, and provides single invoice billing for all satellite communication services and 24-hour access to a customer response call centre.\rThe SCS-1000 is a single-channel aeronautical communications system that provides standard or secure voice, fax and computer data transmission. All antenna steering control sensors, GPS and attitude sensors are integral to the antenna, so making it independent of other aircraft systems. Other components include an antenna control unit, power supply unit, telephone unit and handset. "We believe the SCS-1000 Mini-M Aero will open doors for our leadership in new market segments for our products," said an optimistic Gary Kivela, Honeywell vp.\rOmnipless is part of the international Plessey Corporation which employs 1,900 people in five countries. Honeywell has around 57,000 employees in 95 countries.