Inmarsat, a provider of global mobile satellite communication services, has launched a wideband communications capability to U.S. government customers through its Global Xpress service carried over the first Inmarsat-5 satellite. The offering will allow government customers to manage communications over significant geographical areas.
Using 72 fixed beams in commercial Ka-band, along with military Ka-band capacity available on its high-capacity steerable beams, Global Xpress can support aeronautical and land terminal operations with high-throughput connectivity. The steerable beams are designed to complement military Ka-band capacity provided by the Wideband Global SATCOM system (WGS) in areas of high demand, while the fixed beams enable consistent and reliable service across nearly all of the visible earth.
Inmarsat-5 F1 achieved commercial service introduction (CSI) for U.S. Government users in the Indian Ocean Region coverage area on July 1, 2014, after successful launch and activation of the satellite and related redundant ground infrastructure. The service is currently supporting users across its footprint, including in Europe; the Middle East, Africa; and southwestern Asia.
The Inmarsat-5 military Ka-band steerable beam technology supports high data rates and small apertures enabling the satisfaction of previously unmet key mission requirements. Additionally, the iDirect evolution-based Global Service Beam (GSB) performance met or exceeded data throughput available on older Ku-band services using satellite terminals of equal or smaller size.
