Jane Edwards
Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch, senior vice president for government strategy and policy at Inmarsat, has said the launch of the fourth Boeing-built satellite for the Global Xpress satellite communications network seeks to validate Inmarsat’s efforts to promote resilience within its satcom offerings.
The Inmarsat-5 F4 satellite lifted off Monday aboard a SpaceX-made Falcon 9 rocket from a launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Cowen-Hirsch wrote in a blog post published Thursday the launch of the I-5 F4 satellite also seeks to strengthen “in-orbit redundancy†in an effort to support the reliability of Inmarsat’s satcom products.
She noted Inmarsat’s GX network is designed to be interoperable with Ka-band military satcom platforms and that the addition of I-5 F4 to the commercial satellite network seeks to deliver additional coverage and capacity to service personnel in support of their missions.
Cowen-Hirsch discussed how the first three Inmarsat-5 satellites have provided global connectivity to government users since July 2014.
She also cited the GX’s ground network and its corresponding satellite access stations, Meet Me Points systems as well as portable and fixed satellite terminals.
