Page 66 - SAMENA Trends - November-December 2021

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Inmarsat Launches World’s Most Sophisticated Commercial Comms Sat

When it comes to mobile satellite commu- company’s fully funded technology road- of the I-4s, matching customer demand as
nication, Inmarsat tops the list. The British map. The most sophisticated commercial and where it is needed. They also add fur-
satellite company has now launched its communications satellite ever launched, ther depth in Inmarsat’s global coverage
first Inmarsat-6 satellite, I-6 F1, by Mitsub- I-6 F1 is comparable in size to a London for even greater assurance to customers
ishi Heavy Industries (MHI) from the JAXA double-decker bus, with a deployed solar of the redundancy and resilience of In-
Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. What arrays ‘wingspan’ similar to a Boeing 767 marsat’s world-leading L-band network.
makes the Inmarsat-6s (I-6) interesting is and a 9-meter-wide L-band reflector that The GX6 payloads hosted on the I-6s add
that it delivers an enhanced platform for will be deployed over the coming days. The targeted high capacity to Inmarsat’s high-
those looking to embrace the next wave satellite will then be raised to geostation- speed GX network, ensuring it continues to
of world-changing technologies that EL- ary orbit (GEO) approximately 36,000km support the growing need of commercial
ERA enables, including the rapidly growing above the Earth via its all-electric propul- and government customers for data, par-
Industrial IoT satellite connectivity (IIOT) sion system and then undergo a thorough ticularly in congested regions or hotspots
market segment, by providing dramatically and extensive testing program. I-6 F1 will where it is needed most. The launch of the
increased network capacity and resilience. enter service in 2023. Ground stations I-6s is further evidence of the momentum
According to Verified Market Research, in Western Australia will support I-6 F1. underpinning Inmarsat’s business and
the global satellite communication mar- According to Rajeev Suri, CEO of Inmar- technology leadership in global mobili-
ket size was valued at US$65.68 Billion in sat, the launch marks Inmarsat’s newest ty communications. I-6 plays an integral
2020 and is projected to reach US$131.68 technological leap forward as they main- role in the reliable GEO infrastructure that
Billion by 2028. Some companies are al- tain its strong commercial momentum and underpins Inmarsat ORCHESTRA – the
ready building their own satellites with the sector leadership. The satellite extends world’s first network that will combine
hopes of providing better communication Inmarsat’s world-leading mobile satellite GEO, highly elliptical orbit (HEO), low Earth
and connectivity for their services. For In- communications services for customers orbit (LEO), and terrestrial 5G into one har-
dustrial IoT services like applications in- and partners, especially in the Indo-Pacif- monious solution.
volving remote assets, regular reporting ic region. The I-6 satellites demonstrate
to headquarters is key. The new satellite Inmarsat’s ongoing investment and com-
enables everything from shipping contain- mitment to its global leadership in L-band
ers to smart bulldozers to make regular satellite services to 2040 and beyond for
reports back to their base of operational the benefit of mobility customers world-
status. Compared to previous satellites, wide. These new capabilities from the
this is the first-ever hybrid L- and Ka-band I-6s mean greater capacity and coverage,
satellites, incorporating increased capac- greater speeds, and a greater portfolio of
ity and new technological advances for innovative connectivity solutions for EL-
ELERA’s transformational L-band services ERA and Global Xpress (GX) networks. The
alongside additional Global Xpress (GX) I-6 satellites, like all Inmarsat ELERA and
high-speed broadband capacity. The new GX spacecraft, are backward-compatible
satellite adds to an existing global fleet of with existing terminals, ensuring that cur-
14 geostationary satellites to extend In- rent and future customers will continue to
marsat’s commitment to mission-critical benefit from new advances. The I-6s also
services while enabling a new generation substantially increase the effective capac-
of pioneering technologies to connect and ity of the network available to ELERA cus-
sustain the world. The launch is the first of tomers with double the beams, 50% more
seven planned for Inmarsat by 2024 in the spectrum per beam, and double the power

Telefonica Uses Intelsat Satellite to Boost Mobile Connectivity

Telefonica Deutschland, which provides difficult to supply. The geographically from Intelsat provides guaranteed data
services under the brand name O2, has or topographically challenging areas transmission rates of 50Mbps, thereby
revealed that it is now using satellite cannot be connected using traditional enabling customers to receive not only 2G
connections from Intelsat at mobile technologies such as radio relay or GSM but also 4G LTE connectivity.
phone locations in regions that are fiber-optics. The satellite connection

66 NOV-DEC 2021