Inmarsat launches third Global Xpress satellite

Global mobile satellite communications services provider Inmarsat launched the third satellite in its Global Xpress program, Inmarsat-5 F3 (I-5 F3), on Aug. 28. The third Boeing-built Inmarsat-5 satellite was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on an International Launch Services Proton Breeze M launch vehicle and is now in orbit.

Inmarsat said it will join the first two GX satellites, which are already in orbit and operating successfully, to create the first, globally available, high-speed mobile broadband network delivered by a single operator. 

Inmarsat CEO Rupert Pearce said: “The Inmarsat Global Xpress network will be the first high-speed Ka-band broadband network to span the world. New technology and engineering design will allow us to steer capacity where it’s needed most and adjust to shifting subscriber usage patterns and evolving demographics over the minimum 15-year life span of the network. We can now look forward to the introduction of global GX commercial services by the end of this year.”

The first Global Xpress satellite—Inmarsat-5 F1—was launched in December 2013 and entered commercial service in July 2014, covering Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. This was followed by the launch of Inmarsat-5 F2 on Feb. 1, 2015, which covers the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean and entered commercial service in August.