Global Xpress Delivers to
the U.S. Government
October 7, 2014
Inmarsat has begun providing wideband communications
capability to U.S. government customers through its
Global Xpress service carried over the first
Inmarsat-5 satellite.
Using 72 fixed beams in commercial Ka-band, along
with military Ka-band capacity available on its
high-capacity steerable beams, Global Xpress is now
supporting aeronautical and land terminal operations
in the Indian Ocean Region with high-throughput
connectivity. The steerable beams are designed to
complement military Ka-band capacity provided by the
Wideband Global SATCOM system (WGS) in areas of high
demand, while the fixed beams enable consistent and
reliable service across nearly all of the visible
earth.
“We’re pleased to be hearing such great reviews
about Global Xpress from our U.S. government
customers,” said Peter Hadinger, president of
Inmarsat’s U.S. Government Business Unit. ”Our goal
throughout the design process was to address many of
the U.S. government’s most critical communications
needs, and now, Inmarsat is delivering on that
objective.”
Global Xpress exceeded expectations during extensive
user evaluations and tests. Users indicated that
terminals were highly reliable under all operational
conditions, providing seamless wideband SATCOM
connectivity crucial to their mission requirements.
The Inmarsat-5 military Ka-band steerable beam
technology efficiently supports very high data rates
and very small apertures enabling the satisfaction
of previously unmet key mission requirements.
Additionally, the iDirect evolution-based Global
Service Beam (GSB) performance met or exceeded data
throughput available on older Ku-band services using
satellite terminals of equal or smaller size.
“These evaluation results prove that Global Xpress
provides an ideal solution for U.S. government
users,” Hadinger stated. “The service’s unique
combination of worldwide coverage and military
satellite communications interoperability makes it
truly unmatched in the marketplace.”
Inmarsat-5 F1 achieved commercial service
introduction (CSI) for U.S. Government users in the
Indian Ocean Region coverage area on July 1, 2014,
after successful launch and activation of the
satellite and related redundant ground
infrastructure. The service is currently supporting
users across its footprint, including in Europe; the
Middle East, Africa; and southwestern Asia.
