In reconfiguring its ground network to allow cross roaming between the Viasat and Inmarsat networks, Viasat is able to unlock capacity including for its aero customers, management said during the firm’s Q3 FY2025 earnings conference call.
Eager to get the nitty-gritty details about Viasat’s cross roaming work, and to understand if — in addition to aircraft fitted with Viasat’s GM-40 gimbaled antenna terminal — legacy Global Xpress (GX) installs or indeed the likes of Airbus HBCplus will also benefit, RGN sat down for a Zoom call with company senior vice president and GM, Commercial Aviation, Don Buchman.
Notably, in addition to addressing our cross roaming questions, Buchman shared some nice color around the GM-40’s capabilities as they pertain to facilitating Telesat Lightspeed LEO service, and Viasat’s exploration into possibly complementing the GM-40 with a second antenna.
RGN: Does the cross roaming initiative not require any changes at all on the aircraft, whether software or hardware? Is that all done by the ground?
Buchman: It is done all by the ground, Mary, yes.
So you can solve that problem of cross roaming by updating, getting the aircraft side compatible on multi networks, which is an approach. The dual modem modman (DMM) allows you to go across multiple networks, not just other ones [in the network] but Telesat and others.
And then you can also put multiple instances of infrastructure in the gateways. And so that’s what we’ve really unlocked is that. And what it really takes on the aircraft side, it just takes our latest version of software that is ViaSat-3 compatible. So pretty much every aircraft in our fleet and the legacy Viasat GM-40 fleet is getting that software, already has it.
And that same infrastructure, what we’ve done is we’ve adapted it to put it in so it can dynamically come on and allow us to basically burst into those satellites so both the legacy GX and the legacy Viasat waveforms kind of cooperate, you know with each other. So we’ve done that on GX6A in Asia-Pacific and we’ve also done it on GX5 over Middle East and Europe. And so what we’ve done, we just unlocked a lot of coverage and capacity for our customers that way. We’ll be expanding that around to all of the fleets, as there’s demand.
[So for example, as Buchman previously explained to RGN, by rolling out the GM-40 on STARLUX’s fleet, the carrier will rely on capacity from various owned and partner satellites in the region, including initially GX6A for east Asian routes and ViaSat-3 F1 on transpacific routes entering that satellite’s coverage area. This is being accomplished without a dual modem modman, though Viasat will bring that hardware to market in the future.]
RGN: Management mentioned on the earnings call that the ground network reconfiguration will equate to a meaningful gain in the bandwidth Viasat can offer in business aviation at virtually no incremental cost to Viasat. But does the flip side hold true: if you’re a GX-fitted bizjet, are you able to then cross roam or is this very specific to Viasat-fitted aircraft?
Buchman: Yeah, it’s a great question. So you know, it is the Viasat equipped. But it does work in the other direction. So what we’re doing [with] the infrastructure is we actually can put in the legacy GX infrastructure on some of the Viasat satellites, not all of them, but most of them that date prior to ViaSat-2. And so we can use the same infrastructure trick, I call it trick, but basically the same infrastructure gains, and that’ll give expanded capacity and coverage access for the legacy GX as well.
RGN: So, this is a good news story for legacy GX as well?
Buchman: Oh it’s great, yeah, almost all of our customers can benefit. So you really can’t go completely; the legacy GX can’t get access to say, ViaSat-3, but can get access to ViaSat-1 and all of the other infrastructure that we’re putting in that’s not the ViaSat-3 infrastructure. So again, we’ll be optimizing that over time. So we really are working as much as we can. You know the legacy GX does have some limitations on some of their infrastructure or their aircraft side where it’s what’s called a single polarization. All the Viasat satellites use dual polarization. So not all of the bandwidth will be available, but what is available we’re going to smartly make available to all of our customers as seen fit such that we can expand, and just like you said, at limited or no cost.
RGN: But with the broader overarching goal still being ultimately that you’ll be rolling out, including in BizAv, the hardware that will be able to talk to ViaSat-3 and across the GX network, correct? This is a nice kind of near-term capacity play for you guys [before the DMM]?
Buchman: Yeah, what’s really nice about it is, for all of our customer sets, we could get an acceleration of that roadmap today so it doesn’t necessitate a new hardware update, right? We’ve been able to smartly do it with kind of what’s in the fleet today, what’s flying around today, [with a focus on] how can we accelerate their access to the best we can across all these multiple networks. So that’s what we’ve really done is sort of taken what looked like a hardware upgrade and we’re going to get the benefits of that … today.
RGN: Will these benefits be born out for those that are doing the linefit Airbus HBCplus product? Is that part of the equation?
Buchman: It’ll get access, you know it’ll have some of the benefits that we talked about. That terminal can get the benefits of this cross roaming on Viasat satellites that predate ViaSat -2, in those networks. So then, yeah, so just like we’re doing for business aviation, we’ll be able to expand that footprint across those for the same reasons.
RGN: The change in timeline for ViaSat-3 F3’s entry into service means that Delta’s mid-2025 timeline for offering free Wi-Fi on transpacific routes might also change or will this cross roaming assuage some of that in the near term? Did you require buy-in from your airline partners to be able to move the F3 launch to early 2026? How should I be thinking about that?
Buchman: We’re always working with all of our partners on basically our schedules and plans. And so that was what was nice is in having this cross roaming, we’re able to accelerate some of the expansion and coverage access to it… It takes away any uncertainty on the launch time. So those two kind of go together. And I think all of our airline customers are really satisfied with what we’ve done as alternatives. Call it risk mitigation, but also call it an acceleration and really driving some innovations in our ground infrastructure that allowed sort of the benefit to be accelerated. But everyone’s eagerly waiting for what ViaSat-3, especially Flight 3, the promise that it’s going to bring. It’s more the broad coverage area that it’s going to bring with that service quality.
I think any other company may have let the anomaly on ViaSat-3, Flight 1, may have just [left it] for dead in space. But our guys just didn’t give up. And they basically turned lemon into lemonade and delivered a great service. And what I’m excited about is we are expanding where we didn’t have coverage before, mainland to Hawaii. So there’s a lot of flights with our current US customers. And it’s just delivering on the service quality of that promise. It’s just really exciting to see that. Taking a very small percentage of the satellite [that] is even useful, we’re able to turn that in and deliver the promise of the future today on ViaSat-3 and now when we get the next two up, it’s going to be fantastic.
RGN: I had a couple of questions very specific to the GM-40 terminal, say for example, the “multi-orbit ready, high performance” GM-40 that is being brought to the STARLUX fleet. Does Viasat have full confidence that this terminal would be able to support LEO satcom service in the future? Have you guys done any testing of LEO on the GM-40?
Buchman: Yes, we have. I know for sure we’re actually operating on MEO today …. some governments have done, you know, some of the MEO systems and we’ve actually done all of the analysis and work with providers like Telesat to verify its compatibility. And yes, we are fully confident that the GM-40 on a network like Telesat will be able to fully support.
RGN: [Given some of the dual-beam aero ESA challenges] I wonder if a new dual-beam ESA, or even going the ESA route in the near term, is 100% necessary, if the GM-40 terminal is able to support, for example, Telesat Lightspeed, if you guys do finalize a capacity agreement there? Is there a rush then to have to get an ESA or do you have more time?
Buchman: Well, so for us, the ESA has to be the right product, right? So [GM-40’s capability to support LEO] does give us the luxury of developing the right product and not just the ‘right now’ product. So what we’re really after when I say the right product is the dual beam. So it’s an “and” or “or”.
So with the GM-40 … if you just had that antenna only you’d have to select ‘on the LEO or on the GEO’ but not both simultaneous… The future is to basically have access to both constellations and smartly route traffic that’s latency sensitive or bandwidth intensive over the most appropriate link for that. And so that’s the right decision. And so the GM-40 can be part of that as a complementary [solution].
You could have, when I say dual beams, it could be an ESA that has dual beams that can dynamically go between the two, shift its power, simultaneously track both and shift basically the beam weights and the beam powers, between where most of the demand is at between LEO and GEO and do that simultaneously. Or you can even add a GM-40. You know it would be nice to have the option of having a second antenna that will tuck in behind. So there’s multiple possibilities for the product…
So that’s why getting the GM-40 on today is really important because it does have life beyond that. You may not necessarily have to go take an ESA in [under the radome] to get the simultaneous. There’s a possibility of just adding a small second antenna. Just some of product things that we’re looking at down the road. They are all good products, it’s really exciting, but it’s kind of accelerating that benefit to today.
RGN: You could get something slimline in there under the current package without moving things around?
Buchman: Those are all the evaluations we’re doing right now… Hopefully we’ll have some answers for you soon. But yeah, those are definitely, you know the ideas … the nicest thing would be just put it in the same radome, small enough so you can kind of cooperate with those two. You know, but we’re going through all the design trades on that today to make sure that that trade is worth it. You know, otherwise having a secondary would be the alternative.
RGN: Obviously LEO is having a moment. Is it necessary in your opinion to have a LEO component given the momentum in the aviation market right now for both LEO-based and multi-orbit IFC?
Buchman: You know, it’s an interesting question. What we’re trying to do is deliver full, fast, free, Internet, right? We saw the market going to the full Internet, offered for free and having expanse. So do I need a LEO for that? Well, no, I mean we’re proving it today. We’ve got multiple airlines doing full, fast, free. We’re the leader in the world; you know, how many, 5,000 flights a day probably here in the US that’s delivering that full, fast, free promise. And so the question is, do I need a LEO for that? Obviously I don’t because we’re continuing to do it for 11 years now and continue to expand and the service is great. If you’ve seen any of the things on the flights going into Hawaii now that we’ve added the ViaSat-3 coverage [F1], so you can sort of see that promise.
There’s no difference in what we’re delivering on ViaSat-3 and even the legacy Viasat systems [in terms of fast and free]. I saw a lot of reports going into CES and some social media posts on LinkedIn, they were talking about the service on Delta, the flight that this reporter was on, who said, ‘This is great. I can do everything I need, 100-plus megabits per second.’ You’re seeing similar [elsewhere]; I think Mark [Dankberg] showed it on the earnings call; this reporter of the Hawaiian beat that just happened to get on a flight that was one of ours [Viasat IFC-fitted aircraft] into the Hawaiian Islands and to the mainland. You can see that service quality.
We’re delivering exactly what we thought we would. And so, there was a hypothesis we had, we know that capacity density is the number one thing, and the speed and quality of experience. And so do I need a LEO for that? No. But does LEO have benefits? Yeah, it’s a complementary benefit on some low-latency items. But as you can see from the marketplace, what’s really there is when I want capacity, it needs to be available. And the GEO is still the best at delivering that.
RGN: Just wanted to just dip in very quickly to the OEM delays. As management discussed, Viasat is relatively confident in the outlook even though the prior target (4,200 planes in service by the end of the fiscal year) might be just ever so slightly less but still roughly around what you guys have talked about. Are you hopeful that those issues are going to get worked out here finally?
Buchman: Every day is new. At Boeing, you know they had the strike; that was kind of the most impactful on top of the slowdown on the MAX production line, and some of the 787 quality issues that took the throughput down. So we’re really hopeful … so we’re all watching Boeing as they recovered and so we’re seeing the aircraft flow again. And then I think the other issue, kind of across the industry, is the engines, the new turbofans. And so that backlog is really having an affect on our customers. You can read the airlines’ earnings reports. So you kind of see each one of them struggling with aircraft on the ground due to their engines. And so that’s the other piece is sort of getting that unlocked. And as that part of the supply chain gets flowing again I think that’ll get the aircraft flowing again.
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Featured image of GX5 credited to Emmanuel Briot
