Multi Orbit Tech Targets 1 Gbps Speeds for Airline
Apr 26, 2026
SES, the Luxembourg-based satellite operator, has announced an agreement with Boeing to integrate its multi-orbit in-flight connectivity system directly during aircraft production. The deal marks a decisive shift away from costly after-delivery retrofit installations toward a streamlined, factory-first approach. At the heart of the system lies the OneWeb low Earth orbit constellation, operated in close partnership with French satellite company Eutelsat, which provides the low-latency backbone of SES’s connectivity offering.
Boeing promo. Credit: Boeing
The partnership will involve Boeing integrating the entire in-cabin hardware network provided by SES on Boeing production aircraft in the factory, the first significant step toward a fully line-fit connectivity solution on all Boeing commercial programs. Boeing will also oversee the coordination of the installation of external antenna equipment as part of the wider arrangement. It will first be available on Boeing 737 aircraft and then the program will be expanded progressively to the popular 787 Dreamliner, with full line-fit offerability being well established by 2028.
Mike DeMarco, President of Mobility at SES, expressed strong confidence in the direction of the partnership, adding that SES was proud of the progress made with Boeing and that the company was well on track for full line-fit offerability, giving airlines a smooth path to install the multi-orbit ESA antenna solution directly during factory production. Destry Lucas, Boeing’s Director of Airplane Connectivity, echoed that sentiment, saying that the collaboration was a continuation of Boeing’s long-standing tradition of providing a high level of connectivity to airline customers, and that great strides were being made to introduce multi-orbit connectivity into the production environment to enable scalable, line-fit solutions.
The multi-orbit electronically steered array system is designed to work in both low Earth orbit and geostationary satellite constellations to provide seamless global coverage, redundancy and low-latency performance. The LEO layer is already supported by OneWeb and can currently achieve download speeds of up to 195 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 32 Mbps per aircraft, with SES highlighting that next-generation hardware in development will exceed 1 Gbps and set new industry benchmarks. The system has already demonstrated its high commercial interest, having already installed over 500 systems to date and some 1,000 more are still awaiting installation, with American Airlines and Air Canada being some of the largest operators of the installed systems.
The Boeing agreement was not the only major announcement from SES on April 14. The company simultaneously revealed a deal with Japan Airlines to equip 40 long-haul aircraft with its multi-orbit system, covering 20 Airbus A350-900s and 21 Boeing 787-9s across both line-fit and retrofit configurations. Japan Airlines noted that it had been an SES customer since 2013 and cited the multi-orbit redundancy, reliability, and continuous innovation as the key factors behind its decision to extend the partnership to long-haul routes. The announcements arrive at a moment of intensifying competition in the in-flight connectivity market, with Amazon LEO preparing to enter the aviation sector and having already unveiled an aviation antenna designed to deliver download speeds of up to 1 Gbps per aircraft.
