Satnews Daily
November 12th, 2013

Inmarsat—Travel Terminus Achieved For I-5 L1 (Satellite)


[SatNews] Inmarsat's (LSE:ISAT.L) first of their Global Xpress satellites—designated Inmarsat-5 F1—has travelled from California to the launch site in Kazakhstan.


The Inmarsat-5 L1 satellite during the build process at Boeing.
Photo courtesy of Boeing.
The 6,100kg spacecraft departed from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Saturday, November 9th, aboard an Antonov AN-124 heavy transporter and arrived at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Monday, November 11th.

The spacecraft was constructed at Boeing’s El Segundo facility in California and is the first of three Global Xpress satellites scheduled to be launched on behalf of Inmarsat by ILS (International Launch Services). Inmarsat-5 F1 is scheduled for launch in December from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, located approximately 2,100km (1,300 miles) southeast of Moscow, via a Proton Breeze M launch vehicle. A fourth satellite has recently been ordered from Boeing.

Inmarsat’s next generation Global Xpress service will be the world’s first, globally available, high-speed broadband network. The Global Xpress fleet is on course to meet its scheduled completion and is currently expected to achieve full global coverage by the end of 2014. The fleet will offer a unique combination of global coverage from a single operator, consistent higher performance of up to 50Mbps, and network reliability.