Gogo 5G chip passes critical design review

Business aviation broadband connectivity services provider Gogo has announced that the chip for its 5G connectivity recently passed a critical design review.

The chip is now in fabrication and the company expects the delivery to happen mid-year. “The critical design review was an important process and milestone before entering into the manufacturing cycle,” said Mike Syverson, Gogo’s Senior Vice President of Engineering. “Given the challenges that our supplier experienced in 2022, we felt that passing this amount of review would give us the confidence necessary to deliver 5G in 2023.”

The company’s 5G service is expected to provide ~25 Mbps on average, with peak speeds in the 75-80 Mbps range, and launch commercially in the fourth quarter of 2023.

According to the company, the first-article Supplemental Type Certification (STC) for the 5G belly-mounted MB13 antennas and the X3 (5G) LRU have been completed and that STC will be amended once the 5G chip becomes available. Gogo is working closely with business aviation OEMs and authorised Gogo dealers to develop additional STCs that will cover more than 30 aircraft models in the aftermarket or from the factory. Customers who want Gogo 5G service can install the company’s AVANCE L5 system today with full 5G provisions and operate on Gogo’s 4G network until the X3 LRU is available. Once the X3 is ready, it can be installed quickly and 5G service can begin immediately.

Gogo completed its 5G nationwide network in the US in October 2022 and plans to expand 5G into Canada in 2023.