Inmarsat’s (LON:ISAT) third Global Xpress satellite has entered orbit after a 15 hour and 31 minute mission that also marked the Proton rocket’s first flight since its launch failure in May.
Inmarsat’s (LON:ISAT) third Global Xpress satellite has entered orbit after a 15 hour and 31 minute mission that also marked the Proton rocket’s first flight since its launch failure in May.
The British satellite operator said I-5 F3 successfully entered orbit, although it will take weeks to raise the bird to its final position, deploy antennas, and carry out the testing required to compete its next generation constellation.
“We have been working towards this day ever since we announced plans to create the Global Xpress constellation in 2010,” Inmarsat CEO Rupert Pearce said.
“I am delighted that we now have three Global Xpress satellites in orbit, enabling us to provide global GX services by the end of the year.”
The third spacecraft enables Inmarsat’s US$1.6bn Ka-band MSS system to offer full global broadband services, primarily for the maritime and aviation markets. I-5 F3 boasts 89 Ka-band fixed beams and six steerable ones.
US-based Boeing (NYSE:BA) built all three satellites and based them on its 702HP platform. It started building a fourth in 2013 that will be used to increase capacity and enhance coverage if the first three operate successfully.
The Global Xpress constellation had originally planned to be operational in 2014 but its schedule has been hit by a total of three Proton launch failures.
The failure on 16 May 2015 caused the loss of the Mexican government’s Centenario satellite, one of three birds in an MSS project worth more than US$1bn.
International Launch Services, a US-based group that markets Proton to commercial customers, concluded its investigation into the crash last month, concurring with Russian government findings that blamed it on a third stage issue. Investigators agreed that it was likely caused by a joint used to mount the third stage’s steering engine turbo pump and a steering engine turbo pump rotor material.
Earlier launch failures have been pinned on issues ranging from upper stage failures to human error.
Although the Russian government’s launch programme has overseen most of the failed Proton missions, they have hurt ILS’ ability to compete in an increasingly competitive commercial market.
Russia has been consolidating its space industry to get a firmer grip on the issues facing the sector, bringing it under the control of state-owned space agency Roscosmos.
It is still unclear how those plans will affect Sea Launch, which is headquartered in Switzerland but launches from a converted oil rig off the west coast of the US. Sea Launch is controlled by Energia, which is partly owned by the Russian government.
Inmarsat’s I-5 F3 marked the 405th launch for Proton since its maiden flight in 1965 and the 90th ILS Proton launch overall.
