SpaceX - Falcon 9 / Inmarsat-5 Flight 4 Mission patch.
May 16, 2017
Image above: SpaceX launches an expendable Falcon 9 with Inmarsat-5 F4. Video by SpaceX, Screen capture by Orbiter.ch Aerospace.
SpaceX conducted its sixth launch of the year Monday (May 15, 2017), with a Falcon 9 rocket deploying the Inmarsat-5 F4 communications satellite. Liftoff, from the Kennedy Space Center, was on schedule at the opening of a 51-minute launch window at 19:20 local time (23:20 UTC). The booster – as planned – did not return for a landing due to the performance requirements of the heavy satellite.
Inmarsat-5 Flight 4 Launch Webcast. Video Credit: SpaceX
Inmarsat-5 F4 is the last in a series of four high-power communications spacecraft which Inmarsat will use to support its Global Xpress mobile satellite broadband product.
Inmarsat was founded in 1979 as the International Maritime Satellite Organization, an intergovernmental partnership to provide satellite communications for maritime users. Privatized in 1999, Inmarsat is based in London and provides global broadband and communications services in addition to maintaining public service operations for maritime and aeronautical users.
An artist’s depiction of the Inmarsat-5 F4 satellite in orbit. Image credit: Boeing
The four Inmarsat-5 satellites were built by Boeing. Based around the BSS-702HP satellite bus, each carries eighty-nine Ka-band transponders and is designed for a service life of fifteen years. Envisioned as a three-satellite constellation, the first three satellites were ordered in 2010.
For more information about SpaceX, visit: http://www.spacex.com/
Images (mentioned), Video (mentioned), Text, Credits: SpaceX/NASA Spaceflight.com/William Graham.
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