Aerospace intelligent connectivity and satellite communications company SkyTrac and Iridium Communications have introduced an optimised Iridium Certus midband satcom solution for the general aviation market.

The optimisation will allow pilots to leverage efficient low earth orbit Iridium Certus satellite data with leading electronic flight bag applications for real-time weather information including SIGMETs, AIRMETs, PIREPs and NOTAMs, helping to improve flight safety and situational awareness when outside of cellular service.

The midband satcom service class, Iridium Certus 100, enables up to 88 Kbps of bandwidth through SkyTrac's DLS-100 and Blue Sky Network's SkyLink 7100 portable terminals, allowing pilots and passengers to communicate through voice and messaging while also enabling flight tracking and critical application updates such as graphical and real-time weather alerts.

Together, with Iridium Certus 100, and Iridium Certus Connected terminals, pilots can bring intelligent connectivity to any airframe with powerful, small form factor devices that don't require costly installations or certifications.

"With this partnership, personal aviators as well as large operators can complement their cellular connectivity with satcom without its prohibitive cost," says SkyTrac director of product management Iain Ronis. "With inflight connectivity, general aviation operators can stay connected to their apps, update flight plans, download the latest weather and communicate through text and voice-based messaging, even in remote locations with no cellular service; a game changer for the general aviation segment."

Operators seeking to upgrade their operations with satcom can leverage SkyTrac's DLS-100 midband datalink and GPS system. Rugged, portable and optimised for size, weight and power, the DLS-10 is suitable for a variety of aircraft platforms and provides reliable midband satellite connectivity, globally. Operators looking to equip with both cellular and satcom can leverage Blue Sky Network's SkyLink 7100, which uses 4G/LTE networks to create a low-latency, dual-mode, cloud-based service solution.

The two cost-effective Iridium Certus Connected terminals allow for pole-to-pole connectivity, 99.9 per cent reliability and low latency for a host of capabilities, including telemetry streaming, two-way messaging and more.

"We're excited to extend Iridium's reliable solutions to the general aviation market, through our partners SkyTrac and Blue Sky Network. Iridium Certus 100 is the first service leveraging our upgraded constellation for the GA pilot community, enabling a new era of affordable and more capable cockpit connectivity," says executive director, aviation line of business John Peterson. "With this optimised data transmission, GA pilots can benefit from using familiar messaging apps like iMessage or WhatsApp while also enhancing their safety and situational awareness no matter where their flight plans take them."