Inmarsat, a provider of global mobile satellite communications, has confirmed the successful launch of the fourth, high-speed broadband communications satellite in its transformational Global Xpress (GX) constellation.
Inmarsat GX is the world’s first globally available, broadband connectivity service and was created to enable communities across the world to benefit from the emerging digital society.
Inmarsat-5 F4 (I-5 F4) was launched by SpaceX on a Falcon 9 rocket at 00:21 (BST) / 19:21 (ET) from the historic launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Following satellite separation at 00:53 (BST) / 19:53 ET, we acquired telemetry from our Perth ground station at 01:04 BST / 20:04 ET.
The launch team from Inmarsat and Boeing Network & Space Systems, the manufacturer of I-5 F4, are now raising the spacecraft to a geostationary orbit, at which point the satellite will deploy its solar arrays and reflectors, and undergo payload testing.
I-5 F4 joins the three GX satellites already in orbit, which have, since December 2015, been delivering unprecedented service speeds, global coverage, reliability and security to users on land, at sea and in the air. The fourth satellite adds further capacity to the GX network, as well as in-orbit redundancy that further upgrades the reliability and resilience of Inmarsat’s service offerings.
