ELERA, the world’s most reliable satellite network from Inmarsat, the world leader in global, mobile satellite communications, is poised to deliver speeds up to six times faster than Inmarsat’s existing business aviation connectivity solution over L-band. This revolution in connectivity, named SwiftJet, for business aviation, will begin to roll out in the first half of 2023 before the technology develops further soon afterwards for other industries served by Inmarsat.
As one of the first new services introduced on Inmarsat’s ELERA satellite network, SwiftJet will offer seamless global coverage across flight routes with maximum speeds of 2.6 megabits per second. This will allow passengers to create a secure ‘office in the sky’ with enhanced capabilities for web browsing, email, video conferencing, texting, cloud-syncing and collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams all delivered with the 99.9% network availability provided by ELERA.
Rajeev Suri, Inmarsat CEO, said “It is rare for a new development to offer a potential sixfold enhancement in service and it is testimony to the talent at Inmarsat that we are able to deliver precisely that leap forward. Inmarsat focuses on delivering technology leadership and the maximum benefits from it for our customers. This innovation leverages Inmarsat’s position at the forefront of both satellite innovation and L-band technology, demonstrating what ELERA can deliver in the future for global connectivity.”
Inmarsat delivers higher speeds via an innovative new approach over L-band, with SwiftJet as the first product release to use it. Inmarsat plans to roll out the technology, made possible by ELERA, in other markets that rely on the equipment size and performance made possible by L-band.
As the latest addition to Inmarsat’s market-leading portfolio of business aviation inflight connectivity services, SwiftJet will be available alongside Jet ConneX (JX) and SBB, both activated on thousands of jets worldwide. JX is the most popular and widely-adopted premium, high-speed solution available today, powered by a global constellation of Ka-band satellites. JX delivers data speeds up to 20Mbps today and is powered by Inmarsat’s rapidly expanding Global Xpress Ka-band network. SBB offers speeds of 432Kbps over L-band using smaller antennas that are suitable as a secondary system to JX or as primary connectivity for smaller or older aircraft that may be less suitable for JX.
Inmarsat’s ELERA global satellite network delivers the world’s most reliable and flexible connectivity, with full redundancy and unique resilience in all conditions. ELERA capabilities are being further enhanced with the addition of two Inmarsat-6 satellites, the largest and most sophisticated commercial communications satellites ever built, both of which are scheduled to enter service next year. The I-6s will support SwiftJet through the 2030s, reinforcing the service’s long-term value. The L-band capacity on each I-6 satellite will be substantially greater than Inmarsat’s 4th generation spacecraft, delivering 50% more capacity per beam.
The I-6 series of satellites will also play a crucial role in the ongoing growth of Inmarsat’s unique ORCHESTRA dynamic mesh network, which will bring existing geosynchronous (GEO) satellites together with low earth orbit satellites (LEO) and terrestrial 5G to form an integrated, high-performance solution, unmatched by any existing or planned competitor offering.