Gogo’s onboard 5G program for business aviation has passed another milestone with the Avance LX5 receiving certification and parts manufacturer approval from the FAA.
Sergio Aguirre, president of Gogo said, “Receiving formal approval from the FAA to produce and manufacture the AVANCE LX5 Line Replaceable Unit reaffirms our commitment to Gogo 5G as we march toward our launch date. We built LX5 on the AVANCE platform as a smaller, single-box option to make the installation of Gogo 5G even easier for customers.”
The first-article Supplemental Type Certification (STC) for the onboard 5G system was completed by Duncan Aviation’s engineering and certifications services team on a Citation Excel aircraft. Gogo’s dealer network and OEM partners are pursuing multiple STCs that will certify the Gogo Avance LX5 system for installation across a variety of business aircraft models. Once the 5G chip is available, a minor STC modification will be required before customer installations of the LX5 can begin.
According to Gogo, its 5G service is expected to provide around 25 Mbps on average, with peak speeds in the 75-80 Mbps range, outperforming any competitive geosynchronous (GEO) satellite or air-to-ground (ATG) solution.
The LX5 has been designed with the same form factor and same connections as the L5 to help streamline installation. Customers can pre-provision for Gogo 5G today by installing the multi-band (MB13) 5G antennas and an Avance L5 LRU. The L5 system will operate on the Gogo Biz 4G network until Gogo 5G launches, which is expected in the third quarter of 2024. At that time, they will be eligible to receive a free LX5 to swap with their existing L5 LRU.
