Inmarsat confirmed the successful launch of the fourth broadband communications satellite in its transformational Global Xpress (GX) constellation, the I-5 F4. The company says Inmarsat GX is the world's first globally available, broadband connectivity service and was created to enable communities across the world to benefit from the emerging digital society. I-5 F4 joins the three GX satellites already in orbit, which have been live since December 2015. The fourth satellite adds further capacity to the GX network, as well as in-orbit redundancy that further upgrades the reliability and resilience of Inmarsat's service offerings.
Inmarsat-5 F4 (I-5 F4) was launched by SpaceX on a Falcon 9 rocket at 00:21 (BST) / 19:21 (ET) from the historic launch pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Following satellite separation at 00:53 (BST) / 19:53 ET, Inmarsat acquired telemetry from its Perth ground station at 01:04 BST / 20:04 ET.
The launch team from Inmarsat and Boeing Network & Space Systems, the manufacturer of I-5 F4, are now raising the spacecraft to a geostationary orbit, at which point the satellite will deploy its solar arrays and reflectors, and undergo payload testing.
