ILS - Proton-M Inmarsat-5F1 launch poster.
Dec. 8, 2013
Inmarsat-5F1 satellite liftoff on a Proton-M
December 8, 2013 12:21 pm (GMT) the Inmarsat-5F1 satellite liftoff on a Proton-M launch vehicle topped by a Breeze-M upper stage booster from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The Inmarsat-5F1 mission is the ninth Proton launch of 2013 and the 392nd Proton flight overall.
Launch of Proton-M with Inmarsat-5 F1 Onboard
This is the seventh commercial mission of the year for ILS and the 84th ILS Proton mission since the Proton April 1996 first commercial flight.
The Inmarsat-5F1 spacecraft is the first satellite of the new 5th generation of the orbital means employed by Inmarsat PLC, the leading global mobile satellite communications operator.
Inmarsat is planning to create the first global system of high-speed broadband mobile satellite communication Global Xpress (GX) on the base of a three geostationary satellites constellation and a network of 6 ground stations. The first satellite to be launched will serve Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia. The other two satellites to serve America (Inmarsat-5F2) and the Pacific region (Inmarsat-5F3) are scheduled to be delivered into orbit with a six-month interval in the second and fourth quarters of 2014. Global coverage is planned for the end of 2014.
Inmarsat-5F1 satellite
Inmarsat has appointed the market leader Boeing Satellite Systems to design and build three Inmarsat-5F satellites to operate in geosynchronous orbit, based on its proven 702HP platform. Each satellite is designed for 15 years of commercial life. In October 2013, Inmarsat ordered from Boeing a fourth satellite that will be used as a back up at the stage of the orbital segment deployment and later on will be used to expand the Global Xpress system’s capacity.
For more information about International Launch Services (ILS), visit: http://www.ilslaunch.com/
Images, Video, Text, Credits: ILS / Orbiter.ch Aerospace.
Cheers, Orbiter.ch
