Gogo Business Aviation
Coverage: Global (LEO satellite) and North America (US and Canada, air-to-ground) | Satellites: Low Earth orbit | Hardware types: AVANCE L3, AVANCE L5, AVANCE LX5 and AVANCE SCS. For Gogo Galileo (LEO satellite) there is the HDX antenna (smaller form factor to fit on any size business aircraft) and the FDX antenna (best-in-class performance for large-cabin aircraft). | Orbit/Operating Frequency Range: Ku-band, Ka-band, L-band (inc. Satcom Direct) | Aircraft: All business aircraft of all sizes, globally. From super-light jets and turboprops to ultra-long-range large-cabin jets | Partners: Every major OEM (Cirrus Aircraft, Gulfstream, Embraer, Dassault Falcon, HondaJet, Bombardier, Textron Aviation, Pilatus, BBJ, ACJ) | Installers: We work with more than 120 Gogo authorised dealers worldwide
Gogo Business Aviation
Coverage: Global (LEO satellite) and North America (US and Canada, air-to-ground) | Satellites: Low Earth orbit | Hardware types: AVANCE L3, AVANCE L5, AVANCE LX5 and AVANCE SCS. For Gogo Galileo (LEO satellite) there is the HDX antenna (smaller form factor to fit on any size business aircraft) and the FDX antenna (best-in-class performance for large-cabin aircraft). | Orbit/Operating Frequency Range: Ku-band, Ka-band, L-band (inc. Satcom Direct) | Aircraft: All business aircraft of all sizes, globally. From super-light jets and turboprops to ultra-long-range large-cabin jets | Partners: Every major OEM (Cirrus Aircraft, Gulfstream, Embraer, Dassault Falcon, HondaJet, Bombardier, Textron Aviation, Pilatus, BBJ, ACJ) | Installers: We work with more than 120 Gogo authorised dealers worldwide
Equipment price:
For ATG: $55K-$72K for AVANCE L3, $141K for AVANCE L5 and AVANCE LX5. For Global: $120K for Gogo Galileo HDX, and $190K for Gogo Galileo FDX.
Installation time:
Contact dealers for this info.
Download, Upload and Latency Speeds:
AVANCE L3 is a 3G experience, AVANCE L5 is a 4G experience (up to 9 Mbps), AVANCE LX5 is 5G with mean speeds ~25Mbps, peak speeds 75-80Mbps). Gogo Galileo HDX 43-60Mbps download and 11Mbps upload with mean speeds 57Mbps, Gogo Galileo FDX 145-195Mbps download, 32Mbps upload with mean speeds 189Mbps. Low latency for both ATG and Gogo Galileo.
Monthly cost:
AVANCE L3 $105/hour, $2,595/month for 2.5 GB/month up to $4,295/month for Unlimited (no streaming). AVANCE L5 $2,595/month for 2.5 GB/month up to $7,500/month for unlimited with streaming. AVANCE LX5 $3,500/month for 25 GB/month up to $8,000/month for unlimited with streaming. Gogo Galileo HDX $7,000/month for 50 GB/month, $10,500/month for unlimited, $11,500/month for unlimited plus ATG. Gogo Galileo FDX $7,000/month for 50 GB/month, $12,500/month for unlimited, $13,500/month for unlimited plus ATG.
FROM A simple idea that originated on a napkin, Gogo has grown to become one of the leading names in in-flight connectivity with more than 7,000 business aircraft using its services.
Launched in 1991, Gogo pioneered air-to-ground connectivity in North America, developing a network of ground-based cellular towers in the US and Canada to provide low-latency, high-speed internet solutions to business and commercial jets. It is in the process of adding a 5G service for a broadband solution for business jets, expected in mid-2025, and that will complement its current 4G offering.
Gogo partners with leading satellite service provider Eutelsat-OneWeb, harnessing its low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite fleet to offer low-latency, high-speed Ku-band connectivity with global coverage called Gogo Galileo.
In December it completed its acquisition of leading GEO provider Satcom Direct for $375m in cash and five million shares, plus performance-related add-ons.
Gogo Galileo comes with two antenna options – the more compact HDX designed to fit any size business aircraft from super light jets and turboprops up to large-cabin jets, and the larger FDX for best-in-class service for large-cabin aircraft.
It can be added to any AVANCE system (AVANCE L3, L5, LX5 or SCS). AVANCE comes with multi-bearer capability which means it can manage hybrid connectivity, optimising and switching between different types of networks, such as LEO and GEO satellite and air-to-ground, to provide a seamless in-flight service for next-generation connectivity on a global scale.
AVANCE is Gogo’s hardware and software platform that comes in different hardware configurations (see above) enabling not only connectivity service on the aircraft, but additional services such as Gogo Vision, the leading inflight entertainment service in business aviation with hundreds of movie and TV titles, 30 digital magazines and business news, as well as over-the-air updates which keep the system updated with the latest technology automatically.
Order of magnitude improvements
AVANCE L3 is primarily for light jets but is also installed on larger aircraft, L5 is for small to large jets and offers higher speeds for more data-heavy services and LX5 which will power Gogo 5G. Gogo also offers AVANCE SCS which provides the lightest and smallest configuration to couple with Gogo Galileo HDX or FDX for global LEO broadband service. The HDX and FDX antennas can be added to any AVANCE system.
“We believe 5G and Gogo Galileo will accelerate our revenue growth beginning next year as they deliver order of magnitude improvements in the speed of Gogo service, expand our total addressable market by 60%, and extend customer lifetimes by providing easy and compelling upgrade paths for our AVANCE install base,” said Oakleigh Thorne, Gogo chairman and CEO.
Gogo-ing for gold
Gogo goes on the offensive with multi-network expansion, reports Alasdair Whyte
WHEN CLIENTS need connectivity for everything from “dinner reservations to live streaming Bloomberg to what’s happening on the stock market”, your service better keep up, says Jim Zanino, vice president, Customer Sales, Gogo.
The brand has long been the leading player in air-to-ground connectivity in North America but Gogo is on the march to become a key global presence with services across all systems in business aviation.
Gogo’s partnership with Eutelsat OneWeb to use its extensive low-latency LEO constellation and its recent acquisition of Satcom Direct gives it a significant footprint in the satellite world.
Factor in the 5G upgrade of Gogo’s air-to-ground infrastructure in the US and Canada and you begin to grasp its ambition.
“Our focus is business aviation,” said Zanino in a townhall with Corporate Jet Investor. “That has been our focus for the last five years. We are experts at the business aviation market. We understand the customer. We understand the environment and we understand the demands that people want when the system performs or doesn’t perform.”
Eutelsat OneWeb’s constellation has 630 satellites in orbit, made up of 588 active satellites and the remainder as spares. Despite facing challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical disruptions, the company has successfully launched all its satellites and is now ready to open its services to both commercial and business aviation.
“The constellation is live, we’re ready to activate customers very shortly. We’re nothing but excited over here,” says Jason Sperry, head of business aviation at Eutelsat OneWeb.
“It’s not really the number of satellites that makes a difference, it’s how you’re using those satellites…”
Gogo’s alliances and acquisitions aim to significantly boost its firepower in the connectivity arms race and future-proof it in the face of aggressive competition from rivals such as Starlink and potentially Amazon’s Project Kuiper.
The Satcom Direct deal will help Gogo to tap into the “14,000 business aircraft outside North America” and to deliver solutions that “satisfy the performance and cost needs of every segment of the BA market," according to Oakleigh Thorne, Gogo’s former CEO and now executive chairman.
“Together, we are uniquely positioned to deliver unparalleled in-flight connectivity solutions across the underpenetrated global BA and military/government mobility markets,” said Chris Moore, former president of SD and now CEO, Gogo.
According to Zanino, it is Gogo’s “consistency of performance” that makes it stand out in a crowded market.
“It’s not really the number of satellites that makes a difference, it’s how you’re using those satellites and who you’re marketing that connectivity to that drives the performance of the network.”
Sperry adds: “We ensure that when we design future iterations of our satellite constellation that aviation necessities are brought into play. Whereas those other constellations really design aviation maybe as an afterthought.”
Gogo and Eutelsat OneWeb are also working to secure regulatory approvals and market access. “We will now be able to offer the service in India, which is a great benefit,” adds Sperry. “We’ve been working with Gogo on accessing those countries that need specific information to unlock the capability to deliver there.”
The upcoming Gogo Galileo LEO broadband connectivity system will add further clout to its showpiece AVANCE front-end solution. Its versatility to switch between satellites and air-to-ground is unique.
“It gives you that added flexibility and redundancy that’s built into our system like no other,” adds Zanino.
“If something goes wrong you have a second system to fall back on. What you can also do is separate the two systems, so maybe you have the principal on the satellite network and then the pilots on the air-to-ground system, or vice versa.”
Bombardier Challenger 300 with Gogo Galileo HDX antenna.
Bombardier Challenger 300 with Gogo Galileo HDX antenna.
Chris Moore’s office is barren. The only thing of interest on his desk is a small plastic water cup. There are no photos, no souvenirs, no model aircraft. The new CEO of Gogo Business Aviation has been too busy to unpack.
In June 2024, as CEO of Satcom Direct, he worked with JPMorgan to pitch the company to industry and financial buyers. When Gogo was selected as the preferred bidder, he then led Satcom Direct’s due diligence process, meeting with Gogo’s board and investors.
The sale completed on December 4th 2024. On the same day he was named CEO of the combined company.
After Christmas and New Year in his native England, Moore flew back to Satcom Direct’s Florida headquarters. He then drove his son and family dog across the US to Gogo’s head office in Broomfield, Colorado. His wife and daughter flew after completing the sale of their Florida house. They bought a new house in Broomfield the next day. Moore arrived from his road trip on the Saturday and was in his new, empty, office on Monday, January 4th.
“It all happened very, very quickly,” says Moore. “But we made it happen, and we are very happy to be here.”
Oakleigh Thorne, president, CEO and executive chair of Gogo moved to executive chair of the Gogo Board, with Moore coming in as CEO. “I have to give a lot of credit to Gogo. Even though they were buying SD, Gogo approached the whole thing as a merger,” he says. “The investors and the board have been amazing, really, really supportive. Everything’s just been very thoughtfully done.”
Combining Gogo
As you would expect, Moore says that it was clear early on that there were synergies between Gogo, predominantly a US air-to-ground connectivity provider and Satcom Direct which specialises in satellite communications. The timing of the sale was particularly good in 2024. Gogo was expanding into satellite connectivity with its Galileo offering through Eutelsat OneWeb. Satcom Direct’s founder was keen to exit.
“Gogo was heading here, but by buying SD it took the company five years to the right,” says Moore [of a financial earnings chart] “Gogo had built a team of three international sales people, SD already had a well-established team. It was a good option for them to get into satellite connectivity, now you’ve got a full-breadth portfolio between the two businesses combined.”
Satcom Direct has 1,300 customers, and while some of these will also have Gogo air-to-ground systems on their aircraft, it has opened up a new customer base to go with the 7,016 mainly US aircraft that Gogo covered.
While Gogo chose the Eutelsat OneWeb LEO network, SD has always used a range of satellite providers – including Viasat, Intelsat and Inmarsat. Moore stresses that it will continue to do this.
“We are selling an LEO service, we are selling a GEO service, and an air-to-ground service. Effectively what we’re selling is multiple broadband points, so you’ve got full capability, full back-up, you’ve got all of those things and other key things like cybersecurity,” says Moore. “It’s fully integrated, it’s really an enterprise solution.”
Oakleigh Thorne (left) and Chris Moore signing the agreement for Gogo to acquire Satcom Direct.
Moore stresses that many users want back-up. He points out that most business jets already have a range of services. Cockpit communications are often on one system with a satellite back-up. There are often two systems for passengers in the cabin. He says that aircraft connectivity will become more like traditional telecommunications with load balancing. The aircraft’s router could choose to use LEO for gaming, while a Teams call is on GEO.
“Don’t think GEO is going away. We’ve got a lot of customers, especially with the US Department of Defense that are GEO-centric. Everybody kind of forgets that there is a lot of GEO investment around the satellites as well, they are getting smaller and more capable,” says Moore. “We’ve got a lot of brand names in the industry but if I just call it ATG broadband, and then you’ve got LEO broadband, and you’ve got GEO. There’s a common theme there, it’s all broadband-based business, then really where we see the big complementary piece is the multi-orbit capability of the business.”
LEO satellites in orbit.
LEO satellites in orbit.
Some countries also ban the use of certain satellite services – Starlink does not have an operating licence in China, for example. Governments are also wary of using some systems for connectivity because of cyber security concerns and do not want communications sent on local internets.
Moore says a key part of Gogo’s offering will be making sure that the hardware can adapt to new options.
“It’s not just going to stop with LEO and GEO. MEO [Medium Earth Orbit] will be on business jets within the next five to six years. There’s obviously the potential of LEO Ka-band as well. So for customers, it becomes even more confusing, right?” he says. “You’ve LEO Ku, you’ve got OneWeb and Starlink, you’re then going to have LEO Ka, and at the moment, it looks like that’s going to be either Kuiper or Telesat. So you’ve now got four networks just on LEO. And then on GEO you already have both. You should be able to come to Gogo and go right; You’ve got Ku/Ka, LEO-based technology, you’ve got Ku/Ka, GEO-based technology, you’ve got ATG. How should I use it?”
Chris Moore is the new CEO of Gogo Business Aviation.
Moore is also focused on upgrading Gogo’s air-to-ground system and getting certification for its AVANCE antenna that works with Eutelsat OneWeb and air-to-ground. He praises Gogo’s manufacturing facility and says it already has product ready to ship when they are approved.
Moore is now preparing for his first analyst calls with Thorne. He is enjoying being at a public company. “Somebody gave me great advice, that if you check the share price every hour you are not doing your job properly. I do check it a couple of times a week but then it might not be completely reflective of how good I think the company is anyway,” he says.
He also needs to find time to personalise his office. “It does look quite sparse,” he admits. “I do need to sort it out.”
