At the Hughes booth at the Airline Interiors Expo in Hamburg, Germany, Reza Rasoulian, vice president at Hughes (left), and Ben Griffin, vice president at OneWeb (right), sign the Distribution Partner agreement for Hughes to provide OneWeb Low Earth Orbit satellite connectivity services to global airlines and select partners.

Hughes Network Systems announced Monday that it has entered into a strategic partnership agreement with LEO satellite constellation operator OneWeb to serve as a OneWeb connectivity services distributor to the global airline market. Hughes will package the OneWeb services in a new hybrid LEO in-flight connectivity solutions package anchored by Hughes’ electronically steered antenna (ESA).

The solution will also leverage Hughes’ patent-pending Hughes Fusion technologies which includes connectivity services from Geostationary orbit (GEO) complete the hybrid Wi-Fi connectivity service.

“Combining OneWeb service with our high-performance antenna and our expertise delivering managed services at scale, we’re able to offer passengers worldwide an in-flight Wi-Fi experience that’s as fast and responsive as they can get at home or in the office,” Hughes Vice President Reza Rasoulian said Monday at the signing ceremony with OneWeb, which took place at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Germany.

OneWeb Vice President of Mobility Ben Griffin added, “The best way to provide airlines and passengers with faster, more consistent and truly global broadband service is with a variety technologies and partnerships. Hughes is a trusted, strategic partner of OneWeb, and we’re delighted to extend this partnership to include our aviation services. This agreement reinforces our industry-led approach which is resonating so well with airlines globally.”

Hughes engineered the gateways for the OneWeb’s ground network  and manufactures the core module used in every terminal in the system to power the LEO connectivity. Hughes also distributes OneWeb services to the U.S. Department of Defense and is an investor in OneWeb through its parent company EchoStar.