Inmarsat, Partners Advance Ka-Band Network With Launch of First Satellite This Year

Inmarsat is “moving from the paper stage to the ‘putting satellites in orbit stage,'” said Peter Hadinger, head of Global Government at Inmarsat. The first Inmarsat-5 satellite launches later this year, and it will be followed by two more launches in 2014, he said. “By the end of 2014, Global Xpress will cover the planet.” The service will be provided through a constellation of three satellites, Inmarsat said on its website. Inmarsat partnered with Cisco, Honeywell, GoGo and other companies to deliver download speeds of up to 50 Mbps, in-air connectivity, land terminal integration and other services.

Using Ka-band technology, Global Xpress will deliver higher speeds through more compact terminals at a lower cost than existing very small aperture terminal services, Inmarsat said on its website. “There are things from an application standpoint that will really be enabled once Global Xpress comes online,” Hadinger said. Due to the data rate, it’s been difficult to serve some of the highest rate needs with the company’s core L-band products, he said. The new network will allow small terminals to use some applications that don’t lend themselves to the L band, like HD video or a government unmanned aerial vehicle application, Hadinger said.

The partners for Global Xpress “represent a cross-section of the best of the industry,” Hadinger said. Some partners are champions in a particular market or specialists in a particular type of application, he said. “They're preparing their go-to-market plans specifically for addressing customers needs."

Cisco will help deliver the network that will provide the connectivity into the Inmarsat-5 satellites and to the devices that will connect users, said Jordi Ferrer, Managing Director-Service Provider and Media for Cisco U.K. and Ireland. A Cisco device can be used on an oil rig or merchant ship to provide Internet Protocol connectivity, “which will look like the connectivity you get on the mainland anywhere else,” he said. Inmarsat will be able to do this from satellites with very stringent criteria in terms of quality, security and managed service for end users, he said. “Cisco is building the infrastructure behind it to deliver that connectivity."

Boeing will assist Inmarsat in pursuing government contracts, and it is manufacturing the Inmarsat-5 satellites, said Jim Mitchell, vice president of Boeing Commercial Satellite Services. The company “has completed several major milestones towards the completion of the first Inmarsat-5 satellite, including payload module completion, payload to bus mate and antenna integration,” he said. The satellite’s payload design “is a sophisticated spot beam Ka-band payload featuring high capacity flexibility, and [it] leverages our experience with broadband systems and military end-user needs,” he said. Boeing is selling Inmarsat-5 bandwidth in anticipation of the first satellite launch, and the manufacturing of the next two satellites is under way, Mitchell added. Inmarsat also teamed with companies like Cobham Satcom and Skyware Global to build commercial land satellite terminals (CD Sept 7 p15) and Gogo, which will offer in-flight broadband to airline customers (CD Dec 21 p13).

Global Xpress has garnered interest from the maritime and aviation communities and governments worldwide, Hadinger said. Shipping lines have signed up for XpressLink, which allows use of terminals that are interoperable with Global Xpress, he said. “Airlines are looking to improve passenger connectivity.” Inmarsat expects the Ka-band network to benefit many areas of government, “especially those which are responsible for rapid response to crises worldwide,” said Hadinger. A Global Xpress kit will allow them to go anywhere in the world, he said.

Inmarsat expects some of its current customers for L-band services to be early adopters of Global Xpress, Hadinger said. “We also see that most of them will continue to operate in L band,” which is portable and easy to use and has low-cost terminals, he said. “We expect a pretty good mix, with Global Xpress stepping in to pick up the high end of data rates that can’t currently be reached with our L-band product."

The demand for satellite communications “continues to be greater than the supply, and there continues to be a need for effective, robust global coverage,” Mitchell said. “This need has made the Ka-band market the fastest growing.” A Ka-band network will help meet the demand for bandwidth and connectivity at a remote site, whether it’s at sea or in a sparsely populated area, Ferrer said. Some customers there may want to deploy services, like open a bank or run a TV station, he said. Global Xpress would “allow us to be more certain that we can help other customers deliver those services,” and that enhances Cisco’s value to the marketplace, he said.

Creating a network that focuses on Ka-band services allows for high performance in all coverage areas and better mobility, Hadinger said. Now in the Ku band, “global coverage is done with a patchwork of different satellites from different vendors stitched together to create a partial ability to cover the globe,” he said: But “just because a coverage area shows that it reaches to a particular place on earth, doesn’t mean it provides high performance in that location.” Global Xpress will cover the globe and provide uniform performance, he said. The smaller dish size used for Ka-band applications offers portability, he added. Ka-band services require a 60 centimeter dish, compared to a 1.2 meter dish for Ku-band services, he said. “That’s one quarter the total size and weight of a Ku dish, and it can be put onto a lot more platforms."

Inmarsat is nearing completion of Global Xpress’ first gateway stations in Italy and Greece, which will be entry points for the first satellite, Hadinger said. The ground stations for the second satellite, to cover the Atlantic Ocean, will be completed before the end of the year.