Boeing Completes Tests on First Inmarsat GX Satellite

The first of the three GX satellites, Inmarsat-5 F1, has undergone the final stages of system level performance testing at Boeing’s El Segundo, Calif., facility before it is to be shipped from Los Angeles International Airport to the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch site in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The satellite is scheduled to fly on an Antonov An-225 heavy transporter in early November, in preparation for a scheduled liftoff in early December aboard an ILS Proton Breeze M launch vehicle. Once the 6,100kg satellite reaches transfer orbit, it will deploy its solar arrays with a span similar to that of a Boeing 737, and then be positioned in geostationary orbit above the Indian Ocean.

 

As part of Inmarsat’s Global Xpress (GX) satellite constellation, the F1 will provide Ka-band service for the aviation industry, with consistent high-speed connectivity for commercial and business aircraft throughout the world, according to the company. It will deliver IP connectivity services of up to 50Mbps across the global spot beam coverage, providing the capacity and bandwidth for enhanced connectivity services.

 

Miranda Mills, president, Inmarsat GX Aviation, says: “The GX Aviation program is firmly on track within our current schedule of being available from early 2015.”

 

The second satellite, Inmarsat-5 F2, is coming to the end of its assembly process at the Boeing plant, before it begins a series of tests that simulate the extremes of temperature it will experience in space. This will ensure that the heat transfer technology works perfectly. This enables the electronics inside the satellite to operate at room temperature, despite a difference of around 300°C between the back and front of the satellite.

 

I-5 F2 will also undergo rigorous simulation testing of the launch conditions, both through vibration and acoustic testing. The satellite’s data transmission and receive capabilities will also be thoroughly tested, including tests over Inmarsat’s Global Xpress ground network.

 

Inmarsat recently triggered an option to purchase a fourth Inmarsat-5 satellite under its existing contract with Boeing. The program schedule from Boeing has a satellite delivery date of mid-2016.