Inmarsat (LSE:ISAT.L), a provider of global mobile satellite communications services, announced on February 4 that Inmarsat-5 F1, the first in its fleet of three Global Xpress® (GX) satellites, has successfully completed its orbital deployment stages on schedule. Inmarsat and Boeing engineers, working from Inmarsat’s GX teleport in Nemea, Greece, are now beginning a month of comprehensive payload testing in preparation for commencing live end-to-end testing of the high-speed, mobile broadband GX connectivity services, scheduled to start in March.
From its geostationary orbital location at 62.6 degrees East, Inmarsat-5 F1 will offer high-throughput broadband services for Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The satellite, built by manufacturing partner Boeing, features 89 beams and 6 steerable high-power spot beams, which will enable Inmarsat to dynamically increase capacity based on customer demand.
Inmarsat-5 F1
Part of a US$1.6bn investment programme by Inmarsat, the Global Xpress constellation is on course to achieve full global coverage by the end of 2014 and will be capable of delivering download speeds of up to 50Mbps on land, at sea and in the air, virtually anywhere in the world. The combination of seamless global Ka-band coverage from a single operator, consistent higher performance and network reliability has already attracted significant interest from potential government and commercial users across the world. Inmarsat is working with the world’s leading satellite terminal manufacturers and a network of Value Added Resellers (VARs) in preparation for the initial roll-out of GX commercial services in 2014, culminating in the launch of the global service in 2015.
The second and third Inmarsat-5 satellites, scheduled for launch later this year, will join Inmarsat’s existing fleet of 11 commercial communication satellites. The fleet includes the company’s award-winning L-band network, which offers mobile connectivity services to the maritime, aviation, utilities, media, machine-to-machine (M2M) and government sectors, among many others. Inmarsat is also the leading provider of safety at sea services – forming the satellite backbone of the Global Maritime Distress & Safety System (GMDSS) – and aviation safety services, as well providing of connectivity services for governments and aid agencies in regions hit by major disasters.
