March 7, 2016
International
Launch Services
(ILS) and
Inmarsat have
agreed to
a future launch
of an Inmarsat
satellite on
board an ILS
Proton from the
Baikonur
Cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan.
The Proton
launch vehicle
is Russia’s
mainstay
heavy-lift
launcher and is
built by
Khrunichev State
Research and
Production Space
Center (Khrunichev),
the majority
owner of ILS and
one of the
mainstays of the
Russian space
industry.
The Proton
vehicle is in
its 51st year of
service and has
conducted over
400 missions
with 92
commercial
satellites
launched under
the auspices of
ILS.
The ILS Proton
was the selected
launcher to
deploy
Inmarsat’s
Global Xpress
Network. The
three initial
satellites
(Inmarsat-5 F1,
Imarsat-5 F2 and
Inmarsat-5 F3)
together form
the first
globally
available
high-speed
mobile broadband
network,
delivered
through a single
provider.
Global Xpress
serves the
advanced
mobility needs
of Inmarsat’s
existing
customers on
land, at sea and
in the air.
The most recent
launch in the
series,
Inmarsat-5 F3,
was launched by
ILS Proton on
August 29, 2015.
All three
satellites were
successfully
launched into
Super-Synchronous
Transfer Orbits
(SSTO),
maximizing their
operational
lifetime.
Kirk Pysher,
President of ILS
said, “We are
honored to be
considered by
Inmarsat as the
launch services
provider for one
of their future
missions. We
thank Inmarsat
for their
continued trust
and support in
Proton over 20
years and look
forward to
supporting the
next mission and
launch and
providing
Inmarsat with
timely access to
space.”
