Inmarsat Launch 3G Satellite
Inmarsat is delighted to report the successful launch of its first Inmarsat-4
(I-4) satellite on board an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida,
at 1642 EST (2142 GMT) on March 11.
The size of a London double-decker bus and weighing about six tons, the
I-4 will deliver a 3G-compatible broadband data service to mobile users.
The satellite is 60 times more powerful, and has 20 times more capacity
than its predecessors, the Inmarsat-3 satellites.
"The world has just got a little smaller," said Andrew Sukawaty,
CEO and Chairman of Inmarsat.
"We have created communications history today. The I-4 satellite
is one of the largest and most powerful commercial satellites ever launched,
and will deliver unprecedented data speeds for a mobile satellite communications
service."
The satellite will now undergo a complex series of post-launch tests
and manoeuvres before being fully deployed in geostationary orbit, 36,000km
above the Indian Ocean at 64 degrees east. The satellite footprint will
cover Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Indian sub-continent, most
of Asia Pacific, and Western Australia.
Inmarsat currently intends to launch a second I-4 satellite in the third
quarter of 2005, which will be located over the Atlantic Ocean at 53 degrees
west and provide service for the Americas. The two I-4 satellites will
then cover 85 per cent of the world's land mass.
When the two satellites are fully operational, currently expected in
the fourth quarter of 2005, Inmarsat intends to launch its new Broadband
Global Area Network (BGAN) service.
BGAN is an IP and circuit-switched service that will offer voice telephony
and a sophisticated range of high-bandwidth services, including Internet
access, videoconferencing, LAN and other services, at speeds of up to
432kbit/s.
Inmarsat's I-4 satellites are built by EADS Astrium and are part of an
eight-year, US$1.5 billion development of Inmarsat's next-generation satellite
network.
The launch on the Atlas V was carried out by International Launch Services.
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