PaxEx: Inmarsat and Hughes Unveil New IFC Solution

North American passengers are in for some in-flight delight as Inmarsat has partnered with Hughes Network Systems to provide GX+ North America - an unrivalled in-flight connectivity for North American airlines and their passengers.

GX+ North America is a transformational aviation connectivity solution, which has been specifically designed for North American commercial airlines and is available today.

It seamlessly integrates the capacity of the Hughes JUPITER High-Throughput Satellite (HTS) constellation across North America with the extensive worldwide coverage and resilience of Inmarsat’s Global Xpress (GX) HTS satellite network.

The new connectivity solution will bring a unique combination of unprecedented capacity, speed, and reliability to the region, unavailable from any other satellite provider.

The ultra-high capacity of GX+ North America will, for the first time, make it possible for North American airlines to meet increasing passenger demand, including the surge in traffic expected from free-of-charge inflight Wi-Fi.

The superior capabilities of GX+ North America mean that North American airlines no longer need to compromise on speed, reliability, availability or coverage for inflight broadband, even when flying at full capacity over the busiest airport hubs.

GX+ North America utilizes a robust Ka-band flat panel antenna from Thinkom and also offers full flexibility for route planning, even on short notice, as the solution can cover any route worldwide through the GX global network.

The new solution will be provided and managed end-to-end by Inmarsat. Prototype flights are expected to start later this year with commercial availability scheduled for 2021.