Satellite dish on a plane
Posted by ilyuwa@reddit | aviation | View on Reddit | 7 comments
Short question is: why hasn't any manufacturer tried to install a satellite dish for an internet connection within the aircraft's fuselage to reduce drag and to make maintenance easier?
If I get it right, satellite bump on top can contribute to about 3-5% more drag. I understand that inside the fuselage you have a kind of the faraday's cage. But! Isn't there really no other place than on top of the aircraft?
Like for example could you install two dishes behind illuminators on each side? Or can one section of the fuselage be made more radio transparent? Or maybe you can place a dish inside the nose compartment where the weather radar is?
Or maybe I just don't get how expensive and time consuming would it be to get it certified.
Shadowrend01@reddit
Satellite receivers have to be on top. They need clear LOS to the sky, and on top gives them the most coverage, as it covers every angle except down, where there are no satellites anyway.
Changing the fuselage to be radio transparent will cause all sorts of interference issues with the on board equipment. It’s like a faraday cage for a reason
Putting it in the nose cuts a large arc out of your “visual” range, and introduces interference to and from the radar
ilyuwa@reddit (OP)
This all makes sense, thank you for the answer. Do you think that transition to Starlink may change it as the dish no longer needs to be looking "straight up" for a satellite on a geostationary orbit but instead could be looking "sideways", because Starlink' orbit is as low as a few hundred km?
thphnts@reddit
Starlink requires being positioned facing upwards towards the sky as it requires communication with low-orbit satellites to get a connection. Starlink's official advice is to have the device facing north, which isn't exactly always possible on an aircraft.
av8geek@reddit
No
wingedRatite@reddit
yeah this is it. there's already STCs for top mount satellite wifi, so there's no reason to go to any other design. also, if you mounted the wifi on the wing tip (which is what I think you imply) then you have to run wiring all the way down the wing and then through the fuselage, which will add a lot of weight.
thphnts@reddit
The current antennae for WiFi hardly have any impact on drag in the grand scheme of things.
BossStevedore@reddit
The 747’s have had satellite antennae as an option since the mid 70’s