News

Plans for next Inmarsat satellite underway
(May  21  2009)

With the final positioning programme for its current generation of I-4 satellites only completed a matter of months ago, Inmarsat is already looking to the future and has announced the signing of a contract with Arianespace for the launch of its next generation Alphasat I-XL satellite.

Planned for launch in 2012, the Alphasat I-XL satellite will be carried by an Ariane 5 ECA from the Guiana Space Centre, Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

The satellite, currently under development by Astrium, is the first commercial deployment of the European Space Agency's Alphabus platform.

Positioned at 25 degrees East, it will join Inmarsat's current constellation of 11 geostationary satellites to offer mobile voice and data communications services across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Alphasat is planned to provide increased capacity able to handle more than 750 channels in the L-band, already used by Inmarsat to provide its current services, and is also being designed to offer higher bandwidth speeds than those currently available.

"Inmarsat has a long-standing relationship with Arianespace, stretching back to the launch of the very first Inmarsat satellites," said Eugene Jilg, chief technology officer for Inmarsat.

"Alphasat is the result of an innovative European approach to satellite design and development, and so it is fitting that we have appointed Europe's leading launch company to provide the essential launch services."

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