Intelsat’s new McLean, Va. headquarters. Photo: Intelsat

[Via Satellite 3-16-2015] Intelsat has signed an agreement to co-design and produce an ultra-thin, active phased array, Ku-band satellite antenna solution with Phasor, a developer of high throughput, modular, electronically steerable antennas.

The Ku-band antennas will be developed exclusively for Intelsat and optimized for the Intelsat EpicNG High Throughput Satellite (HTS) platform, the first satellite of which is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2016. This also marks the first cost-effective fuselage-mount Ku-band antenna suitable for installation on civil and government small jets, which represent an underserved segment of the fast-growing aviation broadband market, according to Intelsat.

Seventy-five percent of civil small-jet passengers are high-level corporate executives who consider these aircraft “offices in the sky” with a need for broadband service that is as important in the air as it is in the workplace on the ground. When used in conjunction with Intelsat EpicNG Ku-band satellites, Phasor’s ultra-thin, fuselage-mount active array antenna is expected to enable broadband speeds to small-jets of more than 15Mbit per second to the aircraft and 5 Mbit per second from the aircraft.