Airlines
Thales, SES Team on New In-flight Broadband Venture
Associated satellite launch planned for 2020

France’s Thales and satellite operator SES have reached a pair of agreements to market a new in-flight connectivity offering for airline passengers, the companies announced Monday. Under the first agreement, Thales will offer by mid-2017 a new flight connectivity product over the Americas called FlytLive, using Ka-band HTS with two currently orbiting satellites. The other contract calls for SES to procure a new satellite—to be manufactured and launched by Thales Alenia Space in 2020 to meet the specific needs of FlytLive. SES will operate the satellite infrastructure for FlytLive, as well as the complementary ground network.