SmartSky goes live in Southeast corridor

SmartSky has completed all technical milestones and opened the first fully operational coverage zone of its next-generation in-flight communications network.

Business jet and turboprop flights transiting the network’s Southeastern corridor that covers a large contiguous portion of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, can now access the company’s bi-directional, multi-Mbps in-flight connectivity system.

SmartSky CEO, David Helfgott, remarked: “While our primary goal remains lighting up the remainder of the nationwide network in the coming months, today we are showcasing the unparalleled in-flight networking capabilities and advanced services that SmartSky is bringing to market for the connected aircraft ecosystem of operators, manufacturers, service providers and passengers.”

“It’s a testament to the strength of our technical team and supplier-partners, as together we’ve successfully developed and fielded a feature-complete, game-changing service based on an optimal mix of proven 4G LTE and emerging 5G technologies that have been adapted to and optimised for the aviation use-case,” said Dave Claassen, SmartSky’s Chief Technology Officer.

Certification and full commercial launch is expected later this year.