The
launch of Inmarsat's second I-4 satellite took place
on board a Sea Launch Zenit rocket from the Pacific
Ocean at 14:07 UTC (GMT)
The size of a London double-decker bus and weighing
nearly six tons, once in operation the Inmarsat-4 (I-4)
spacecraft will deliver simultaneous voice and 3G-compatible
broadband data services to mobile users across North,
Central and South America.
"The successful launch of the second I-4 satellite
means that Inmarsat now has the world's most sophisticated
commercial network for mobile voice and data services,"
said Andrew Sukawaty, CEO and chairman of Inmarsat.
"It will support an unprecedented evolution of
our services - more than doubling the bandwidth available
to our mobile users. It marks the beginning of a new
era for Inmarsat, in which we expect to roll out a new
range of global mobile services to government, aid,
and enterprise users."
The satellite will now begin deployment and testing,
with a number of key milestones ahead before being fully-deployed
in geostationary orbit, 35,786 kilometres (22,237 miles)
above the Equator, over northern Brazil.
The first Inmarsat-4 was launched in March 2005 and
is already in commercial service above the Indian Ocean
at 64ºE. Together, the two I-4 satellites will
be able to deliver Inmarsat's new Broadband Global Area
Network (BGAN) service to 85 per cent of the world's
landmass.
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 data services, at speeds up to half a
megabit per second.
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. They
are 60 times more powerful and have 20 times more capacity
than their predecessors, the Inmarsat-3 satellites.
The launch of Inmarsat's second I-4 satellite took
place on board a Sea Launch Zenit rocket from the Pacific
Ocean at 14:07 UTC (GMT) on November 8.
The size of a London double-decker bus and weighing
nearly six tons, once in operation the Inmarsat-4 (I-4)
spacecraft will deliver simultaneous voice and 3G-compatible
broadband data services to mobile users across North,
Central and South America.
"The successful launch of the second I-4 satellite
means that Inmarsat now has the world's most sophisticated
commercial network for mobile voice and data services,"
said Andrew Sukawaty, CEO and chairman of Inmarsat.
"It will support an unprecedented evolution of
our services - more than doubling the bandwidth available
to our mobile users. It marks the beginning of a new
era for Inmarsat, in which we expect to roll out a new
range of global mobile services to government, aid,
and enterprise users."
The satellite will now begin deployment and testing,
with a number of key milestones ahead before being fully-deployed
in geostationary orbit, 35,786 kilometres (22,237 miles)
above the Equator, over northern Brazil.
The first Inmarsat-4 was launched in March 2005 and
is already in commercial service above the Indian Ocean
at 64ºE. Together, the two I-4 satellites will
be able to deliver Inmarsat's new Broadband Global Area
Network (BGAN) service to 85 per cent of the world's
landmass.
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 data services, at speeds up to half a
megabit per second.
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. They
are 60 times more powerful and have 20 times more capacity
than their predecessors, the Inmarsat-3 satellites.
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19
December 2005 
