Hughes Announces JUPITER Aero System Offering Industry’s Fastest In-Flight Internet Connectivity

System is Capable of Delivering Over 400Mbps Broadband Speed to Individual Aircraft

Washington, D.C.—Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES), the global leader in broadband satellite networks and services, today announced its JUPITER™ Aero System for Inflight Connectivity (IFC). The new aero solution offers the industry’s fastest in-flight Internet connectivity, capable of supporting speeds in excess of 400 Mbps and operates on both Ka and Ku-band frequencies, making it the ideal solution for commerical air routes throughout the world.

The Hughes JUPITER Aero System leverages the proven capabilities of its market-leading JUPITER System—the mostly widely deployed high-throughput satellite (HTS) system in the world—to deliver high-performance mobility services across both HTS and conventional satellites. The JUPITER System supports DVB-S2X—the satellite industry's latest air interface standard and widely recognized as the most bandwidth efficient standard developed for satellite transmissions.

The dual-band JUPITER aeronautical terminal is based on ARINC 791 and incorporates a highly advanced Modem Manager (MODMAN) along with an option for a dual Ka and Ku-band antenna. The terminal is fully compatable with both wide-beam and spot-beam satellites and supports rapid switching between beams and satellites, without loss of session as aircraft traverse the coverage area, thus enabling passengers to enjoy uninterrupted high-speed connectivity around the globe.

The JUPITER Aero System incorporates the most advanced mobility features in the industry today, including Doppler correction, adaptive coding and modulation, and enhanced beam switching, allowing seamless handoffs between beams and from satellite to satellite—all managed by a single Network Management System (NMS). The system also includes a number of advanced features to improve the passenger experience, including onboard traffic management, Quality of Service (QoS), compression and acceleration.

For air routes over the North America, customers will be able to utilize the new JUPITER Aero System in conjunction with the newly launched EchoStar XIX satellite, the world’s highest-capacity broadband satellite. This will enable service providers and their customers to take full advantage of the superior speed, throughput and economics of this new satellite.

“Airlines have been challenged to support passengers’ increasing expectations for faster connectivity from gate to gate,” said Paul Gaske, executive vice president, North America, Hughes. “With our new JUPITER Aero system, in-flight Internet services no longer have to be subpar compared to terrestrial networks. Not only does it provide abundant bandwidth to support every passenger on even the largest of airliners, the dual band capability of the Hughes Modman and antenna systems enables airlines to provide this level of service across the globe.”

The JUPITER Aero System will ship in the second half of 2017.