Panasonic Avionics has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Shanghai Spacesail Technologies to explore integrating Spacesail’s Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation into its global in-flight connectivity (IFC) network, the companies announced at the Singapore Airshow.
The agreement enables immediate collaboration on a roadmap to deliver LEO connectivity services to airlines and passengers, extending Panasonic Avionics’ multi-orbit connectivity strategy. By incorporating Spacesail’s future high-bandwidth, low-latency constellation—designed to provide reliable global broadband the partnership aims to deliver seamless LEO coverage across all regions, including China.
Panasonic Avionics said the addition of Spacesail would complement its existing LEO partnership with Eutelsat OneWeb, further strengthening network resilience and performance across the Asia-Pacific region and worldwide. The company has maintained a strong presence in the Asia-Pacific IFC for more than a decade, supported by GEO coverage over China via the APSTAR-6D satellite and long-standing airline partnerships.
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“Airlines are demanding higher speeds, lower latency, and more resilient connectivity solutions than ever before,” said John Wade, Vice President of Connectivity at Panasonic Avionics. “Adding Spacesail’s LEO constellation strengthens our network and reinforces our strategy to provide airlines with flexible, future-ready connectivity wherever they operate.”
Spacesail said the collaboration would extend its LEO capabilities into aviation, supporting a seamless digital experience for passengers and advancing its objective of delivering reliable global broadband in the skies.
The planned integration aligns with Panasonic Avionics’ next-generation antenna, terminal, and onboard compute architecture, which is designed to combine multiple networks through channel bonding across different orbits, frequency bands, and satellite operators. The enhanced capability is also expected to support Panasonic Avionics’ role as a managed service provider within Airbus’ HBCplus offering.
