Gogo Business Aviation has announced the process to secure the first-article Supplemental Type Certification (STC) for its Gogo Galileo HDX system on the Bombardier Challenger 300 series of aircraft is underway.

“The Bombardier Challenger 300 is one of the most popular super midsize jets on the market, making it a perfect candidate for our Gogo Galileo HDX system,” said Sergio Aguirre, Gogo’s president and chief operating officer. “Pursuing the STC for parts manufacture approval (PMA) is a critical step as we ready for commercial launch next year.”

Nearly 900 Challenger 300 series aircraft (300, 350 and 3500 models) have been sold since its inception in 2004 and 595 are installed with an Air-to-Ground (ATG) system. Approximately half of the 595 are equipped with AVANCE, Gogo’s industry-leading platform, providing an easy path for upgrade to the newly announced Gogo Galileo product line, harnessing the power of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) network technology.

Engineering and certification services for Gogo

Duncan Aviation, the largest family-owned maintenance, repair, and overhaul service provider in the United States, is providing engineering and certification services to Gogo for the STC.

“The anticipation for Gogo Galileo remains high among business jet operators, so we are pleased to support Gogo’s efforts to secure this STC,” said Mike Minchow, Duncan Aviation’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. “Our team of engineers and certification experts have the skill and know-how to help bring this revolutionary inflight connectivity to installation readiness.”

Gogo Galileo, an extension of the AVANCE platform, will provide business aviation operators with a new era of inflight connectivity performance for all sizes of business aircraft around the globe. The HDX product is light and small in size making it suitable for a broad range of jet sizes while offering lower latency and greater speed than today’s geosynchronous (GEO) satellite systems.

When combined with Gogo 5G, Galileo will have an unmatched offering in North America fusing LEO and 5G connectivity for the fastest and highest capacity, superior performance of any inflight connectivity service.
Subscribe to the FINN weekly newsletter