Satellite communications company Hanwha Phasor and Lufthansa Technik have struck a deal to deliver in-flight connectivity for commercial flights.
A recently signed multi-year agreement will see Lufthansa Technik design, build and supply several hundred fuselage-mounted airborne Satellite Communications (SatCom) radomes for Hanwha Phasor each year.
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The radomes play a crucial role in the aircraft integration as they act as outer shells to cover and protect the antenna atop the fuselage whilst being transparent to radio frequencies (RF) and having negligible impact on the aircraft’s aerodynamics. This will enable the product’s use on aircraft across the globe and ensure airlines can deliver high bandwidth connectivity for their customers, allowing the potential for video calls, movie streaming and other online communication in-flight. Already in the final design phase, first radome prototypes could be built as early as this coming summer, with series production set to commence in 2025.
Dominic Philpott, Chief Operating Officer of Hanwha Phasor said: “We are delighted to announce this pivotal partnership with Lufthansa Technik, a leading business in the commercial aerospace industry. We look forward to working closely with Lufthansa Technik over the coming months, while exploring further opportunities to deepen and build upon this partnership”.
Harald Gloy, Chief Operations Officer at Lufthansa Technik said: “Reliable inflight connectivity is key for the onboard product quality of airlines around the world. Key advancements in antenna technology thereby require equally ingenuous advancements for the radomes that protect these antennas. The prouder I am that, with our decades-long expertise in this field, we will be one of the first to develop and produce an aviation-certified radome solution for the most modern phased-array antennas, and thus provide Hanwha Phasor with perfect coverage, both from a design and a production point of view.”
