I5F2

UK satellite telecommunications firm Inmarsat is preparing to launch its Inmarsat-5 F2 (I-5 F2) satellite on 1 February.

The launch, if successful, will complete a key milestone in the company’s Global Xpress, a $1.6bn high-speed mobile broadband service.

International Launch Services will lift-off the I-5 F2 on-board its Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Inmarsat CEO Rupert Pearce said: "Through Global Xpress, the world can move forward from the ‘Internet of Everything’ to the ‘Internet of Everywhere’, in which high-speed, reliable and secure connectivity is available anywhere and at any time, even in the most inaccessible regions, for customers on the move or to fixed locations."

Built by Boeing Satellite Systems in California, the Global Xpress network satellites are designed to provide broadband speeds more than 100 times faster than Inmarsat’s fourth-generation (I-4) constellation.

"The platform will allow users to enhance their connectivity and access applications from remote corners of the world."

Weighing 6,100kg, the Global Xpress fleet have 89 beams and six steerable high-power spot beams with a design life of 15 years.

The platform will allow users to enhance their connectivity and access applications from remote corners of the world.

Launched in December 2013, the first Global Xpress satellite, Inmarsat-5 F1, entered regional commercial service in July 2014 and serves Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Inmarsat-5 F2 will serve the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean regions.

Inmarsat is planning to launch the third Global Xpress satellite, Inmarsat-5 F3, in early second quarter this year following which the company plans to start commercial Global Xpress services later this year.

Image: Inmarsat-5 F2 will be launched aboard International Launch Services’ Proton rocket. Photo: courtesy of Inmarsat plc.