Connectivity in the skies set for ‘transformative leap’
Satcom service provider Honeywell is leveraging the expansion in satellite capacity to produce ‘next-generation’ capability. Rob Hodgetts reports
Honeywell’s JetWave X terminal will be online in 2026.
Connectivity in the skies set for ‘transformative leap’
Satcom service provider Honeywell is leveraging the expansion in satellite capacity to produce ‘next-generation’ capability. Rob Hodgetts reports
Honeywell’s JetWave X terminal will be online in 2026.
BUSINESS JET USERS seeking seamless connectivity are benefitting from the space race among satellite providers and will see a giant leap in services.
As the number of communications satellites skyrockets, so the capacity is expanding for value-add providers to upgrade connectivity systems with “next-generation” capability.
Business aviation is at the “front end” of this upgrade cycle, a “transformative leap” which will revolutionise the user experience, according to Jason Wissink, president of Services and Connectivity, Honeywell Aerospace Technologies.
“For consumers, they’re going to notice a major step-change in capability and experience on the aircraft,” he says.
“Things are starting to build up at scale amongst a few providers. You have new constellations going up, like Starlink and OneWeb. You have existing providers like Viasat and Intelsat that continue to increase capacity. But then there comes a point where the existing equipment needs to be upgraded to access that new capacity and the added capability that it brings.”
For Honeywell, this refers to JetWave X, its next-generation Ka-band upgrade to the JetWave system which is found on about 2,000 aircraft. OEMs such as Dassault have already signed up.
JetWave X will have the ability to harness current and upcoming Viasat satellites, from the legacy Inmarsat Global Xpress network to the latest ViaSat-3 GEO models. Honeywell claims it will deliver download speeds of up to 200Mbps, up to 10 times faster than first- generation satcom systems.
“We’re going to see higher speeds, the same global coverage from JetWave but at a higher level of performance,” says Wissink.
“There’s a lot of flexibility built into the system – so as new Ka-band satellites come online in the next three, five, seven years, if there’s a good use-case there for business aviation customers, we’ll have the ability to make small modifications to the system to be compatible with newer satellites.”
Wissink adds: “It’s kind of an open- architecture, flexible system that’s going to have access to the best capacity from Viasat at entry and service, and then it’s going to have some flexibility as we move forward.”
Honeywell completed what it called a “major milestone” in July when JetWave X successfully passed data over the Viasat network. It is working on final testing and certification and expects to begin shipping product to OEMs and MROs early in 2026.
“The challenge right now, and it’s a good challenge to have, is that the demand for these next-generation systems is really high,” says Wissink. “We have the typical engineering challenge of ‘How do we build the best product out there but do it as fast as possible?’ And we’re on the tail end of the programme right now.”
“The MROs are full of connectivity upgrades, but we’re still on the front end of that. There’s been hundreds of aircraft that have been upgraded, but there’s potential for thousands more.” As an industry, we’re just trying to collectively move as fast as we can through the whole value chain.”
Wissink emphasises that while JetWave X represents an exciting leap forward, users of the current JetWave system don’t need to rush into upgrading. The existing system continues to improve and is a future-ready solution, especially with Viasat’s recent announcement of a five-fold capacity increase over North America.
“Where I see people kind of rushing into it or planning upgrades in the next 12 months is if there’s something that they really want to do that they’re not able to do today,” he says.
Another feature of a system upgrade is likely to be the reduced size of the hardware, particularly the antenna, opening it up to more aircraft.
“As an example, JetWave today is mainly large cabin, but with JetWave X, we can get into the super mids,” says Wissink. “In the past, super mids mostly were domestic flying in the US, but now they’re being stretched over the North Atlantic or to Hawaii. So satellite connectivity is becoming increasingly important to the super mids because they’re being used like the larger aircraft.”
Dassault has agreed to adopt JetWave X.
According to Wissink, the integration of multiple systems will be one of the “key aspects” in the next upgrade cycle to “unlock all the value” available to consumers.
“People are looking at installing more than one high-speed connectivity system,” he says. “And they want the ability to integrate those together so that it’s a very easy experience for the end user. You just get on the airplane and use it.”
Combining a small fuselage-mounted antenna of a newer LEO system with the tail-mount antenna of JetWave is an example of this multi-system integration. But Wissink says the thinking is not to have a primary and a back-up but two systems working in parallel. That is at least for a “subsection” of large cabin users, perhaps with high passenger loads flying into heavily populated areas, who see enough value in it to merit the financial outlay.
“You absolutely get redundancy. So even if one system has a temporary outage or maybe you fly into an area where one system isn’t authorised or it’s not available, say, for 20 or 30 minutes, the other system is already picking up the slack,” he says.
“But people are saying I want all that capacity available to me at any time. If you’re going to invest in the second system and pay for the data plan, you should get value out of it.”
Wissink adds: “That’s one of the things that we’re really working on with JetWave X, that integration capability to truly unlock two systems running at once. You just want the passengers to get on the aircraft, do what they want to do and not even think about the Wi-Fi. It’s just working.”
Support continues to be a cornerstone of Honeywell’s offering, with global 24/7/365 availability. Beyond technical assistance, Honeywell provides expert guidance to help users and operators select the system best suited to their needs.
“We always start with, ‘Tell us about your passengers, your typical activities and where you want to go’ because not every system has global coverage or global approval,” says Wissink.
“We can help direct them towards the types of systems and level of data plan they would need for a good experience.”
The increased cabin capacity could also benefit cockpit operation. While the cockpit typically relies on a separate system designed for lower data speeds, it prioritises ultra- high reliability, which is critical for communicating with air traffic control. Pilots can often access the cabin Wi-Fi through a router, if they are allowed, which is particularly useful for weather data five hours out or passenger services, says Wissink. But with higher performance, better cockpit connectivity could ultimately enhance the owner or operator’s experience.
“We’re still on the front end of unlocking value in moving large amounts of data from the airplane to the ground,” he says. “If you have more than enough capacity to satisfy the passengers, and you have some excess, then you can start to do more of that.
“We already monitor things like system performance, temperatures and vibrations, but much of that data isn’t relayed in real time. As we find new uses for this information, it should improve airplane uptime for users.”
“You just want the passengers to get on the aircraft, do what they want to do and not even think about the Wi-Fi. It’s just working.”
“You just want the passengers to get on the aircraft, do what they want to do and not even think about the Wi-Fi. It’s just working.”
According to Wissink, the integration of multiple systems will be one of the “key aspects” in the next upgrade cycle to “unlock all the value” available to consumers.
“People are looking at installing more than one high-speed connectivity system,” he says. “And they want the ability to integrate those together so that it’s a very easy experience for the end user. You just get on the airplane and use it.”
Combining a small fuselage-mounted antenna of a newer LEO system with the tail-mount antenna of JetWave is an example of this multi-system integration. But Wissink says the thinking is not to have a primary and a back-up but two systems working in parallel. That is at least for a “subsection” of large cabin users, perhaps with high passenger loads flying into heavily populated areas, who see enough value in it to merit the financial outlay.
“You absolutely get redundancy. So even if one system has a temporary outage or maybe you fly into an area where one system isn’t authorised or it’s not available, say, for 20 or 30 minutes, the other system is already picking up the slack,” he says.
“But people are saying I want all that capacity available to me at any time. If you’re going to invest in the second system and pay for the data plan, you should get value out of it.”
Wissink adds: “That’s one of the things that we’re really working on with JetWave X, that integration capability to truly unlock two systems running at once. You just want the passengers to get on the aircraft, do what they want to do and not even think about the Wi-Fi. It’s just working.”
Support continues to be a cornerstone of Honeywell’s offering, with global 24/7/365 availability. Beyond technical assistance, Honeywell provides expert guidance to help users and operators select the system best suited to their needs.
“We always start with, ‘Tell us about your passengers, your typical activities and where you want to go’ because not every system has global coverage or global approval,” says Wissink.
“We can help direct them towards the types of systems and level of data plan they would need for a good experience.”
The increased cabin capacity could also benefit cockpit operation. While the cockpit typically relies on a separate system designed for lower data speeds, it prioritises ultra- high reliability, which is critical for communicating with air traffic control. Pilots can often access the cabin Wi-Fi through a router, if they are allowed, which is particularly useful for weather data five hours out or passenger services, says Wissink. But with higher performance, better cockpit connectivity could ultimately enhance the owner or operator’s experience.
“We’re still on the front end of unlocking value in moving large amounts of data from the airplane to the ground,” he says. “If you have more than enough capacity to satisfy the passengers, and you have some excess, then you can start to do more of that.
“We already monitor things like system performance, temperatures and vibrations, but much of that data isn’t relayed in real time. As we find new uses for this information, it should improve airplane uptime for users.”
Jason Wissink, president of Services and Connectivity, Honeywell Aerospace Technologies ►
