
12.09.2016 Inflight connectivityKa-band
Share
Share this article
Facebook
Twitter
Google Plus
Linkedin
Key Points
Thales signs an agreement with SES for tailor made connectivity services over the Americas optimized for commercial aviation.
With FlytLIVE, inflight connectivity solution by Thales, airlines will receive the best connection speeds for passengers and passenger entertainment using Ka-band HTS.
Two currently in-orbit satellites comprise the initial network for the Americas; a third satellite provided by Thales Alenia Space - will be launched in 2020 to meet anticipated market growth over the Americas.
Thales, a global leader in space, avionics, and connected inflight entertainment, announces two milestone agreements with SES, the world's leading satellite operator. With these agreements, Thales will offer airlines and their passengers FlytLIVE, the most efficient inflight connectivity experience over the Americas. FlytLIVE by Thales will start operating mid 2017 using in-orbit satellites.
To meet the needs of a growing market, SES will procure a new satellite specifically designed for the needs of FlytLIVE and manufactured by Thales Alenia Space to be launched in 2020. The satellite's architecture is based on Thales Alenia Space's all-electric version of the Spacebus NEO platform, the highest performing satellite in the global connectivity market. Thales works together with its customers to help drive digital transformation across a broad range of sectors; whether it be aviation, ground transportation, aerospace, defence or security. Through this partnership with SES, and by leveraging Thales Alenia Space's expertise, we are developing a satellite uniquely optimized for the fast moving aviation and mobility market. This will enable us to offer airline customers, a simple and seamless connectivity solution with unmatched performance.
Patrice Caine, Chairman and CEO, Thales Group
FlytLIVE by Thales, a simple and seamless connectivity solution for airlines, with unmatched performance for their passengers:
With FlytLIVE, passengers will enjoy full Internet services including video streaming, games, social media and live television, creating an immersive and engaging experience in the air.
Airlines will take advantage of Thales's full end-to-end solutions including products such as the modular antenna and multi-frequency radome, in-cabin Wi-Fi and portal platform. The offering also provides bandwidth and session management, content delivery, operational support tools, line maintenance and turnkey service and support with high Service Level Agreements.
How it will be delivered:
FlytLIVE services will use the SES unsurpassed connectivity network of Ka-band High-Throughput Satellite (HTS) services optimized for airlines who want the best connection speeds for their customers.SES-17 is another keystone in our unique satellite architecture and a major milestone in the execution of our strategy to build a differentiated portfolio of high throughput systems for very distinct customer needs. The new satellite will further strengthen our network capabilities to deliver unmatched next generation connectivity services. SES-17 is tailor-made for customers who demand globally flexible, scalable, future-proof and resilient solutions in the aeronautical sector, but also in other demanding data markets. The procurement of SES-17 also illustrates our long-standing relationship with Thales Alenia Space, which has built 12 satellites for O3b and is in the midst of building another eight.
Karim Michel Sabbagh, President & CEO of SES.
Thales InFlyt Experience, Thales Alenia Space and SES specifically developed the network and satellite architecture for the unique connectivity requirements of commercial aviation customers resulting in better services, more efficient operations and cost savings. SES will operate the satellites and the ground network. The services will be ready for airline and passenger use by summer of 2017 and will be provided by two satellites that are currently in-orbit.
The third satellite in the network to be launched, SES-17, will be optimized for the fast-moving aviation and mobility market over the Americas. It will provide new Ka-HTS bandwidth over this region to meet current and future speed, coverage and quality expectations of crowded skies and increasing passenger service demands as regional airline passenger traffic is forecasted to nearly double by 2030[1].
The satellite will be equipped with close to 200 spot beams of mixed size for more flexible allocation of capacity over high-traffic airline routes and field-of-view beams to enable the most efficient delivery of Internet, live broadcast television and real-time content delivery.
SES-17 will cover North America, South America, Central America, the Caribbean and the Atlantic ocean. The network will provide substantial gains over today's broadband connections, ensuring ultra-high speeds, capacity, coverage and quality.
[1] NOTE: The growth projection for the Americas is derived by year-over-year passenger increases into 2030 compared with current passenger numbers and assumptions on market trends. [International Air Transport Association and Tourism Economics. (2015). Air Passenger Forecasts - Global Report. Retrieved from: https://www.iata.org/pressroom/media-kit/Documents/air-passenger-forecasts-summary.pdf.]
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
01/11/2025
Thunderbolt 3 Now Standard on Symphony MkII - Starting November 11 Beginning November 11, all new Apogee Symphony I/O MkII units will ship with Thunderbolt 3 as...
01/11/2025
How to Expand the Apogee Symphony Desktop with Cranborne 500ADAT Want to expand your Symphony Desktop beyond two inputs? Whether you're tracking a full drum...
01/11/2025
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has published the Financial Report for ...
01/11/2025
tvONE is proud to announce a strategic partnership with Matrox Video, combining CALICO PRO's high-performance video processing with the Matrox ConvertIP Ser...
01/11/2025
CJP Broadcast has joined the Grass Valley partner programme as both a Systems Integration Partner and AMPP Partner. The collaboration enhances CJP's ability...
01/11/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has earned a higher-rated DPP Comm...
01/11/2025
Michael Napodano Appointed New CEO Of Operative Media
Operative today announced the appointment of Mike Napodano as Chief Executive Officer, marking the next s...
01/11/2025
Film industry professionals flocked to Cine Gear Expo Atlanta 2025 at celebrated Trilith Studios in Fayetteville, Georgia, on October 3 and 4. Back for its 6th ...
01/11/2025
Photo courtesy of Peacock and Sky
Christopher Ross, BSC, began his cinematic obsession early. He cites reading Scorsese on Scorsese as a teenager with teaching...
01/11/2025
NEW YORK ITN and the sell-side advertising company Magnite have announced the launch of what they are billing as the industrys first Local Linear TV Private Mar...
31/10/2025
FanDuel Sports Network To Deliver Selected Live NBA, NHL Games to Major Streamin...
31/10/2025
NBC Jumps Out of the Gate in Extended Breeder's Cup Deal With Dual Drones, J...
31/10/2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
30 October 2025
It is with great sadness that we mourn the passing of Segomotso Keorapetse, an award- winning South African television d...
31/10/2025
IRVING, Texas As station groups move into an era that promises rapid tech, regulatory and economic changes, Nexstar Media Group said its board has extended chai...
31/10/2025
While some analysts have questioned the ongoing economic viability of broacast-TV late night shows amid ongoing declines in linear viewing, new data from Tubula...
31/10/2025
The contentious contract negotiations between The Walt Disney Co. and YouTube TV have resulted in a blackout of Disney-owned programming on the pay TV operator....
31/10/2025
CINCINNATI Video conversion and AV signal distribution specialist tvONE and Matrox Video have struck a strategic partnership, combining CALICO PRO's video p...
31/10/2025
NEW YORK The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) today released a new industry guide that discusses the urgency of adopting new standards that will help advert...
31/10/2025
While some analysts have questioned the ongoing economic viability of late night shows on broadcast TV amid ongoing declines in linear viewing, new data from Tu...
31/10/2025
Berklee Celebrates the Inauguration of President Jim Lucchese In his inaugural address, Lucchese shared an optimistic vision for Berklee's future as a for...
31/10/2025
Back to All News
Family, Food, and Films: Netflix's Dining with the Kapoors...
31/10/2025
The review highlights DPA 4055 Kick Drum Microphone for its compact design, ease of placement, and authentic tone that captures the true character of the drum p...
31/10/2025
The RT Raidi na Gaeltachta Award 2025 will be presented to journalist P il n N Chiar in at the Oireachtas na Samhna in Belfast tomorrow, Saturday 1 November,...
31/10/2025
RT lyric fm is calling for choirs across Ireland to share their festive music-m...
31/10/2025
Three awards were presented to RT Raidi na Gaeltachta broadcasters at the Oire...
31/10/2025
RT continues its proud tradition of championing Ireland's vibrant arts and cultural landscape through its RT Supporting the Arts initiative. This November...
31/10/2025
RT selects Irish independent production company to produce Christian Worship on...
31/10/2025
Amidst Gyeongju, South Korea's ancient temples and modern skylines, Jensen H...
30/10/2025
Midwich has signed a UK and Ireland distribution deal with X2O Media, a worldwid...
30/10/2025
SVG Students To Watch: Sam Newitt, Kansas State UniversityThe South Dakota native thrives in many roles behind the scenes at K-StateHD.TVBy Brandon Costa, Direc...
30/10/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Swerve Sports' Christy Tanner Explores the Young FAST Channel&...
30/10/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Andy Liebsch, Senior Director, Video Services, Kansas S...
30/10/2025
Diversified Names Paul Lidsky CEO, Expanding Leadership Role After Serving as Bo...
30/10/2025
NBA, Cosm Enter Long-Term Partnership for Shared Reality Production, Distributio...
30/10/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: FanConnect's Brett Crossley on Reimagining the Ga...
30/10/2025
FanDuel Sports Network to Deliver Select Live NBA, NHL Games to Major Streaming ...
30/10/2025
As the year comes to a close, we can feel the invigorating wind sweeping in for ...
30/10/2025
By Bailey Pennick
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festi...
30/10/2025
The SGL Carbon site in Bonn has a long tradition of training. For many years, young talent has been successfully trained here, regularly achieving excellent exa...
30/10/2025
SBS, NITV and Screen Australia announce 2025 Digital Originals Shortlist
29 October, 2025
Media releases
SBS, NITV and Screen Australia are excited to unve...
30/10/2025
Jon Rambeau, President of Integrated Mission Systems at L3Harris Technologies, speaks about industrial collaboration at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (A...
30/10/2025
MELBOURNE, Fla., October 30, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) reports th...
30/10/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr said he has circulated a proposal for the agency to auction additional midband spectrum in the U...
30/10/2025
PLANO, Texas Technology solutions provider Diversified has named Paul Lidsky as CEO, tasked with guiding the company's next stage of growth, driving market ...
30/10/2025
CUPERTINO, Calif. Interra Systems today unveiled ORION stream recording support and seamless integration with BATON Media Player, a combination that lets broadc...
30/10/2025
WILMINGTON, Del. InterDigital today announced the acquisition of Deep Render, an artificial intelligence startup with a team of AI experts focused on video code...
30/10/2025
NEW YORK TAG Video Systems has earned a higher-rated Digital Product Passport (DPP) Committed to Sustainability badge and the Aclymate Climate Wise Silver Tier ...
30/10/2025
IRVING, Texas As station groups move into an era that promises rapid tech, regulatory and economic changes, the Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has announced that its...
30/10/2025
Television viewers are spending more time watching streaming content than linear TV, but sports continues to be a bright spot for broadcasters, according to the...