Sign up for our daily newsletterEmail addressSign upI would like to subscribe to The Points Guy newsletters and special email promotions. The Points Guy will not share or sell your email. See privacy policy.Like with any rocket launch, there was a bit of risk surrounding last night’s mission, when ViaSat’s brand-new high-capacity satellite, ViaSat-2, made its way from a South American town just north of the equator to its new home in space. Well, near its new home, at least — over the next few months, the 14,000-pound satellite will complete its journey to final geostationary orbit, at which point it’ll finally be ready to use its 300 gigabit-per-second throughput to beam super-speedy Wi-Fi between the earth and commercial aircraft flying above.So what does that mean for you? Faster, cheaper in-flight Wi-Fi, with much broader coverage. In other words, last night’s launch was a very big deal for those of us who depend on reliable connectivity at 30,000 feet.ViaSat is one of the three most prevalent in-flight connectivity providers in the US — the other two being Gogo and Panasonic. ViaSat provides service to United, Virgin America (Alaska) and JetBlue via its ViaSat-1 satellite. American Airlines has signed on for service as well, which will launch with the Boeing 737 MAX. Following a modem and antenna upgrade, existing aircraft should be able to connect to ViaSat-2 as well, which will provide coverage throughout North America, along with parts of South America, the Caribbean and sections of the Atlantic Ocean (covering transatlantic flights).ViaSat-2 is expected to reach its final orbit sometime in October. Following a launch for residential customers in late-2017, we should expect to see the first commercial aircraft connect to ViaSat-2 early next year.For more on this week’s launch, see What ViaSat 2 Means for the Future of In-Flight Wi-Fi.
