Japan's Mitsubishi Electric is to design and produce the next-generation antenna for the Boeing Connexion airborne Internet service. The pair will jointly design the phased-array antenna, with the first to be ready late next year. The antenna will have a single aperture enhancing satellite-to-aircraft scan angles and use beam pointing techno-logy to acquire and track satellites in flight, says Boeing. Customers will initially use a Boeing-designed antenna, and will be migrated to the new system when certification is complete. Mitsubishi was an original partner in Boeing's plan for the high-speed data communications system.
Source: Flight International
