Satcom Direct Avionics—the Canadian division of Satcom Direct (SD)—will deliver multi-band aeronautical connectivity services for up to seven years to Shared Services Canada (SSC) and its clients. Pictured above is the Airbus A330 MRTT aircraft. The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) ordered nine of these aircraft last month. (Photo: Satcom Direct)
Satcom Direct Avionics, based in Canada, will deliver multi-band aeronautical connectivity services for Shared Services Canada (SSC) and its clients for at least the next seven years, the company announced this week.
It is the first signing of such an agreement between the two entities, allowing SD Avionics to provide “appropriately secured” high-speed broadband and datalink services, hardware, hosting, and infrastructure services to support global aeronautical missions for SSC and other federal Canadian government bodies, the company said in a statement.
SD will also provide training and customer support, as well as regular upgrades of the technology.
“Through SSC, Canadian government users will benefit from easy ordering access to quickly establish worldwide connectivity delivered through multiple band airtime services, including Ka, Ku, and L-band options,” SD said.
As an Inmarsat Tier 1 distribution partner SD will support the full range of Inmarsat aviation services including Global Xpress (GX) airtime powered by the Ka-band Global Xpress constellation, SwiftBroadband, and Classic Aeronautical services.
Ku-band services will be powered by the Intelsat FlexAir network. As an approved reseller for Iridium, SD will also support Iridium Airtime, voice and low-data-throughput services, Iridium Short Burst/Short Message Service (SMS), and Iridium Certus Airtime services to provide enhanced high-speed broadband connectivity solutions to aircraft with seamless, continuous, and reliable mobile connectivity, the company says.
The aeronautical services will be supported by SD’s comprehensive terrestrial network to ensure appropriately secured transmission of all SSC customers’ data from aircraft to the Canadian federal government-specified locations.
“We have an extensive understanding of how connectivity is used by these customers, who are often operating critical missions in extreme environments. With an agnostic approach to technology and partners, we already deliver multi-orbit connectivity services that optimize the combination of [geosynchronous orbit], [low-Earth orbit] and [high-earth orbit] satellites,” said Joanne Walker, general manager for Satcom Direct Avionics. “This in-depth knowledge, expertise, and proven capability of managing requirements and exceeding expectations, even in the most difficult of circumstances, has enabled SD to win this contract. Our team worked extremely hard to win this contract, and we are looking forward to developing our relationship with the Canadian government.”
The contract covers an initial period of three years with four additional one-year options. SD Avionics is responsible for fulfilling the acquisition requests, delivering consistent connectivity, and providing customer support as needed by SSC representatives and clients.
The FAA granted Satcom Direct’s Plane Simple Ku-band Antenna System a supplemental type certificate (STC) for use on Dassault Falcon 7x aircraft in May.