An avionics system comprising: a first main radio unit configured to simultaneously provide at least one safety certified channel for a cockpit of an aircraft and at least one other channel for cabin services of the aircraft with a software defined radio; a second main radio unit configured to simultaneously provide at least one safety certified channel for a cockpit of an aircraft and at least one other channel for cabin services of the aircraft with a software defined radio; wherein the first MRU and the second MRU are configurable to process RF signals in accordance with a satellite communication protocol conforming to any of the following systems: Inmarsat, Iridium, Thuraya, MTSAT, as well as future Satcom systems including Iris or Iridium NEXT; a first RF unit configured to selectively communicate with one of the first MRU and the second MRU and send and receive signals from a steerable antenna, wherein the first RF unit is configured to amplify first outgoing signals from one of the first MRU and the second MRU and send the first outgoing signals to the steerable antenna for propagation therefrom as well as filter first incoming signals from the steerable antenna and send the first incoming signals to one of the first MRU and the second MRU for processing; a second RF unit configured to selectively communicate with one of the first MRU and the second MRU and send and receive signals from an omni-directional antenna, wherein the second RF unit is configured to amplify second outgoing signals from one of the first MRU and the second MRU and send the second outgoing signals to the omni-directional antenna for propagation therefrom as well as filter second incoming signals from the omni-directional antenna and send the second incoming signals to one of the first MRU and the second MRU for processing; and an interconnection matrix coupled between the first and second MRU (102, 104) and the first and second RF unit (106, 108), the interconnection matrix configured to selectively couple the first MRU to one of the first or second RF unit (106, 108) and to selectively couple the second MRU to one of the first or second RF unit (106, 108). a first main radio unit configured to simultaneously provide at least one safety certified channel for a cockpit of an aircraft and at least one other channel for cabin services of the aircraft with a software defined radio; a second main radio unit configured to simultaneously provide at least one safety certified channel for a cockpit of an aircraft and at least one other channel for cabin services of the aircraft with a software defined radio; wherein the first MRU and the second MRU are configurable to process RF signals in accordance with a satellite communication protocol conforming to any of the following systems: Inmarsat, Iridium, Thuraya, MTSAT, as well as future Satcom systems including Iris or Iridium NEXT; a first RF unit configured to selectively communicate with one of the first MRU and the second MRU and send and receive signals from a steerable antenna, wherein the first RF unit is configured to amplify first outgoing signals from one of the first MRU and the second MRU and send the first outgoing signals to the steerable antenna for propagation therefrom as well as filter first incoming signals from the steerable antenna and send the first incoming signals to one of the first MRU and the second MRU for processing; a second RF unit configured to selectively communicate with one of the first MRU and the second MRU and send and receive signals from an omni-directional antenna, wherein the second RF unit is configured to amplify second outgoing signals from one of the first MRU and the second MRU and send the second outgoing signals to the omni-directional antenna for propagation therefrom as well as filter second incoming signals from the omni-directional antenna and send the second incoming signals to one of the first MRU and the second MRU for processing; and an interconnection matrix coupled between the first and second MRU (102, 104) and the first and second RF unit (106, 108), the interconnection matrix configured to selectively couple the first MRU to one of the first or second RF unit (106, 108) and to selectively couple the second MRU to one of the first or second RF unit (106, 108).