Dubai: Inmarsat, provider of global mobile satellite communications services, has confirmed the successful launch and acquisition of the third Inmarsat-4 satellite.
The satellite was launched on a Proton Breeze M rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on August 18 (4.43am, August 19 UAE time).
Inmarsat's tracking station in Fucino, Italy, was able to track the satellite while it was still coupled to the Breeze M launch vehicle. Launch provider ILS has confirmed the successful spacecraft separation.
The satellite is the third in the I-4 constellation, concluding a decade of development and a $1.5-billion investment. The current constellation of two Inmarsat-4 satellites delivers mobile broadband services to 85 per cent of the world's landmass, covering 98 per cent of the world's population.
The third I-4 will complete the global coverage for Inmarsat's broadband services.
Andrew Sukawaty, chief executive and chairman of Inmarsat, said: "The Inmarsat-4s are the world's most sophisticated commercial network for mobile voice and data services, and the successful launch of the third I-4 allows us to complete the global coverage for our broadband services. Once the third I-4 is operational, Inmarsat will have the only fully-funded next-generation network for mobile satellite services."
The Proton Breeze M is one of the few launch vehicles capable of lifting the I-4 satellite - the size of a London double-decker bus and weighing six tonnes - into geostationary transfer orbit. The I-4 F3 satellite will now undergo a period of deployment.
