Inmarsat plans an "early entry strategy" to allow some of its customers to migrate to the new Inmarsat 4 satellites to test their capabilities ahead of their official service start in 2004, says Michael Storey, the company's president and chief executive.
Two Inmarsat 4s will be launched in 2003 and placed in geostationary orbit at 54° west and 64° east, with a third to be a ground spare. The Inmarsat 4s, will be manufactured by Astrium and based on the Eurostar 3000 spacebus. They will provide a broadband global area network (B-GAN) offering internet and intranet services, video-on-demand, video conferencing, e-mail, voice and network access at speeds up to 432Kbit/sec.
The satellites will feature 200 spot beams, which will be focused on the land masses. Services will be provided via notebook or palmtop computers, which will range in cost from $750 to $2,000. The $1.4 billion Inmarsat-4 system will be 100 times more powerful than the current Inmarsat-3s, which provide 64Kbit/sec service, and will be capable of serving 10 times more customers, says Inmarsat.
Inmarsat is targeting mobile users with its new broadband services, while other operators such as Astrolink are aiming for fixed users. Storey concedes that there is "certainly competition out there", but says the Inmarsat 4s will provide a far higher data rate than others are offering or planning. Globalstar, for example, has a 28Kbit/sec data capability, and, although there is "a big question mark" over ICO due to its repositioning following the Craig McCaw/Teledesic takeover, that system is unlikely to meet the Inmarsat 4 data rate. "If they [Globalstar and ICO] are there first with lower data rates that will be great because they'll stimulate the market. We relish the competition," he says.
Inmarsat looked at seven qualified suppliers to manufacture the satellites, but narrowed this to Astrium, Hughes/Boeing and Lockheed Martin. "They all responded extremely well and met the minimum requirements, but we looked at who would offer additional functionality beyond this and that was Astrium," says Storey. The satellite manufacturer procurement process was completed extremely quickly, says Storey, with Astrium investing money in the programme before the contract was awarded. Inmarsat is in a "sound financial position" to fund the new system development, Storey adds.
The launch vehicle procurement process will be completed within 12 months, says Inmarsat.
Source: Flight International
