Thales gets STC for 777 SATCOM

Thales has secured Federal Aviation Administration approval to install its AVIATOR 200S satellite communications system on Boeing 777s, clearing the modification for airline use on that aircraft type. (faa.gov, aviationpros.com) The approval is a supplemental type certificate, or supplemental signoff for a design change to an aircraft that is already certified. The Federal Aviation Administration says an STC approves both the modification and its effect on the original design. (faa.gov) L2 Aviation said on March 31 that it received the certificate for the Thales AVIATOR 200S installation on the 777, and Aviation Pros reported the certificate number as ST12322AC on April 8. Thales later tied the program to United Airlines in its public announcement. (prlog.org, aviationpros.com, x.com) Satellite communications in the cockpit are the aircraft’s long-distance phone and data link when radios alone are not enough, especially over oceans and remote airspace. Thales says its cockpit connectivity products use L-band mobile satellite services reserved and protected for air traffic and safety communications. (thalesgroup.com) The AVIATOR 200S is built around SwiftBroadband Safety, an Inmarsat service used for cockpit voice and operational data rather than passenger internet. L2 Aviation said the system supports “critical cockpit safety and operational communications,” and Thales markets the line for flight deck connectivity and airline operations. (aviationpros.com, thalesgroup.com) For airlines, the certificate turns a product brochure into an approved retrofit path for a specific fleet. Without that approval, even an established avionics system cannot simply be bolted onto a transport jet and put into service. (faa.gov, faa.gov) The 777 matters because it remains a core long-haul aircraft, flying routes where satellite links are most useful and where dispatch, maintenance and crew communications often span oceans and multiple control regions. Thales says all long-range aircraft are now equipped with satcom capabilities, and United continues to operate Boeing 777s across its international network in 2026. (thalesgroup.com, simpleflying.com) This is not Thales’s first such approval on a Boeing jet. Thales previously announced an Federal Aviation Administration supplemental type certificate for the AVIATOR 200S on Boeing 737 Next Generation and 737 Max aircraft, extending the same product family from narrow-body fleets to a major wide-body platform. (thalesgroup.com) The immediate next step is airline uptake: an STC allows installation, but each carrier still decides whether to buy the kit, schedule the downtime and fit it across its own 777 fleet. For Thales, the news is that the 777 now has an approved path for this cockpit satcom package. (faa.gov, x.com)