...initial launch partner for land satellite terminals for its forthcoming Global Xpress® service. L-3 GCS is a leading supplier of VSAT terminals to USSOCOM and other elite military and government users. They bring the field-tested credibility that Global Xpress customers will be looking for when upgrading to Ka-band speed and coverage. By bringing L-3 GCS’ Panther™ - and Hawkeye™-certified terminals together with Inmarsat’s global managed services, customers will realize the value and flexibility of combining national MILSATCOM with on-demand commercial services under any operational scenario.

Scheduled for service introduction in 2014, Global Xpress will offer an unprecedented combination of high data rates, bandwidth and global coverage. Inmarsat’s new satellite network aligns with the trend by governments worldwide to shift operations to Ka-band and will provide super-fast uplink and downlink data rates, all backed by Inmarsat quality standards, performance and global reach. Global Xpress is the only global Ka-band system of its kind and will support L-3 GCS customers who have become accustomed to highly transportable, rugged and reliable terminals for all kinds of missions. Inmarsat’s ability to bring a history of reliable and trusted end-to-end global connectivity to the VSAT market will be a revolutionary improvement to today’s piecemeal approach to satellite communications.

Inmarsat’s Global Xpress partner companies will manufacture interoperable maritime, aeronautical and commercial land satellite terminals. Land terminals range from 0.6 to 2.4 meters (in both manual and fully automatic/automatic acquire configurations) for fixed, transportable, ‘fly-away’ and ‘manpack’ applications. The range of Global Xpress terminals has been specifically designed for high-performance operation in the Ka-band, utilizing a new Core Module developed by VT iDirect (“iDirect”). Working together, iDirect’s Core Module and the partners’ terminals will provide state-of-the-art capabilities, fully consistent with the Global Xpress objective of delivering up to 50Mbps downlink speeds with 60cm aperture terminals.