Intelsat EpicNG high throughput satellite, rendering. Photo: Intelsat

Intelsat General Communications, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intelsat S.A., revealed that it is launching FlexAir — a managed end-to-end service providing In Flight Connectivity (IFC). This service will be providing support to military aircraft in the way of communications and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) applications. It was also revealed that Comsat will be the first solutions partner to market FlexAir to U.S. government aviation users and coalition partners.

FlexAir’s broadband service utilizes Intelsat’s global Ku-band satellite fleet and integrates layers of High Throughput Satellite (HTS) coverage from Intelsat’s Epic fleet. FlexAir also offers committed capacity for ISR applications such as sensor data, video transmission, and communications relay to deliver immediate access at 3 Megabits per second from the aircraft with optional scalability to 6 Mbps.

“FlexAir answers the call and delivers the performance and agility that government aviation requires,” said Intelsat General President Skot Butler.“With the multi-layered coverage of FlexAir, our government customers can ensure that each aircraft has global access and guaranteed availability whenever or wherever it is needed. The scalability, throughput, and improved economies of scale provided by FlexAir enable government users to quickly address changing broadband demands while providing maximum mobility in the most cost-effective manner.”