Viasat has expanded its relationship with partner Collins Aerospace ARINCDirect to offer its Ka-band inflight connectivity (IFC) system for mid and large cabin business aircraft.

Currently Viasat offers three IFC solutions for the business aviation market Ka-band, Ku Advanced and Dual Ku-/Ka-band. Adding Ka-band to its service offering means Collins Aerospace can now provide all Viasat options to its customers, including Ka-band service for new installs and service upgrades for current Viasat Ku-band customers to either the faster Ka-band or the global Dual Ku-/Ka-band solution. The Ka-band and Ku-band systems have the same line replaceable unit footprint and can leverage existing aircraft wiring.

“We are delighted to offer Viasat Ka, Ku and Dual Band aircraft connectivity services as an integrated ARINCDirect solution,” says Thomas Sterling, director of business aviation digital solutions at Collins Aerospace. “This milestone will help corporate flight departments modernise their passenger experience and at the same time reduce the headache of coordinating across multiple disparate aircraft and operations services.”

Under the agreement the Ka-band inflight connectivity system is available as a standalone service or bundled with other ARINCDirect solutions, offering Collins Aerospace customers a connectivity option that will benefit them in a variety of ways, including high speed connectivity, lightweight hardware and more capacity and a growing satellite network.

Viasat's Ka-band IFC solution should provide high speed connectivity from takeoff to touchdown at speeds typically greater than 20 Mbps. The level of connectivity enables business jet passengers to do the same connected activities in the air as they do on the ground: streaming video, music and TV, video calls, browsing, email, VPN and more.

Its "no speed limits" Ka-band solution is made possible by the high capacity satellite network combined with Viasat's hardware. Together it delivers the global bandwidth required to meet the demand for faster connectivity speeds to use data rich applications while in flight. Forward compatibility will allow customers to install the shipset and subscribe to a Viasat service package with the potential to access additional satellite capacity and expanded coverage in the future.

The Viasat Global Aero Terminal 5510 Ka-band terminal communicates with its Viasat-1, Viasat-2 and KA-SAT satellite platforms for connectivity across North and Central America, the Caribbean, the North Atlantic and Europe and is expected to be forward compatible with Viasat's next-generation global satellite system, Viasat-3.