Gogo 5G... How hard can it be?
August 5, 2025
“But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal?” President John F Kennedy was speaking about the effort to land humans on the moon, during a speech at Rice University Stadium in Texas on 12 September 1962. At Gogo we didn’t reach for the moon, but as we near the end of our development phase of our 5G air-to-ground (ATG) journey, we have a really good idea of what President Kennedy meant when he described reaching for the moon as ‘hard’.
Gogo’s tower network has been delivering connectivity to business aircraft flying over the contiguous United States for over 15 years, and that ATG network has evolved as the demand for data has grown. Gogo has been improving our Gogo Biz network for many years with more towers and most recently the planned transition to LTE technology. But we realized that the only way to truly satisfy data-hungry customers into the future was by building an entirely new Gogo 5G network.
For our existing customers, we want the process of upgrading their Gogo system to 5G to be as simple as possible. At most, they’ll need a new box and antennas. In fact, more recent installations require only the box. For those installing Gogo ATG for the first time, we’ve kept the hardware required to a minimum. And, of course, everything is built to aviation standards and comes with the reassurance of our expert 24/7/365 support.
The backstory to that simple product delivery experience is surprisingly complex. Along the journey, Gogo has faced technical challenges and, yes, delays. To the post-COVID issues of supply chain disruption and the subsequent demands on electronics manufacturers and their raw material stocks, we added a significant technological leap.
On 17 June 2025, we completed the very first end-to-end call using our next-generation 5G technology. Our partner received the 5G microchip, which is smaller than a thumbnail, in early May. Its successful integration with our hardware and software enabled the call. The chip was integrated into the ‘aircard’ that sits at the heart of our 5G boxes. And now we have two 5G chips in hand to begin testing.
We expect to begin a brief flight test campaign towards final approvals later in 2025, with those approvals granted by year end. Our dealer network is working on STCs and some of our customers are already just a minor update away from enjoying the higher speeds and greater bandwidth of 5G. When those aircraft connect, we will celebrate the culmination of an effort far greater than building a new chip.
The Gogo 5G tower network is already 5G ready, with 150 towers providing uninterrupted coverage across the whole of the contiguous US, and an additional 20 towers extending that coverage into Canada. We already gained all the necessary approvals for our 5G aircraft antennas and completed integration of a new ‘5G core’ into our data center. And while we waited on the 5G chip, we completed most of the testing on the associated Gogo X3 and AVANCE LX5 line-replaceable units – LRUs, the 5G ‘boxes’ – using our 4G chip. The only additional tests required are therefore just for minor change approval.
Designing a 5G network involves complex planning, infrastructure development, and rigorous coordination across multiple disciplines, making it a formidable engineering challenge. It requires not only the deployment of numerous towers and antennas but also careful consideration of geographic, environmental, and logistical factors to ensure seamless connectivity and optimal performance. An exemplary illustration of this complexity is the installation of the final Gogo 5G Tower in Canada, which was so remote that the shelter and equipment had to be floated in on a barge and carefully positioned atop a mountain. The deployment faced extreme weather conditions and the logistical difficulty of transporting heavy equipment to an inaccessible location, highlighting the dedication and ingenuity of the Network Deployment team. This achievement underscores the intricate, resource-intensive effort required to expand 5G coverage into even the most challenging terrains, ultimately enabling better connectivity in remote regions.
At Gogo we chose 5G as our goal and we’ve tackled a variety of challenges on our way to achieving it. Yes, delivering the future is hard, but we are close to making that the next great cellular technology leap as our 5G mission comes to fruition. We can’t wait to hear what our customers think.
Contact us to find out more about accessing Gogo 5G technology.