Space

Inmarsat's GX5 on its way to launch

Posted 25 October 2019

Inmarsat will be launching its fifth Global Xpress satellite (GX5) later this year.

Above: The Inmarsat GX5 satellite beginning its journey from the Thales Alenia Space facility in Cannes to Nice airport, from where it begins a day long journey to the Arianespace launch facility in French Guiana on an Antonov 124-100 aircraft.
Courtesy Thales Alenia Space / Emmanuel Briot

Built by Thales Alenia Space, the Very High Throughput Satellite (V-HTS) is the most powerful GX satellite to date and will deliver twice the capacity of the entire existing GX fleet of four spacecraft combined.

With this ground-breaking milestone coming, the satellite has started its journey from Nice, France yesterday to the Arianespace launch centre in Kourou, French Guiana.

Above: The Inmarsat GX5 satellite being loaded on its Antonov 124-100 transport aircraft before commencing a day long journey to the Arianespace launch facility in French Guiana.
Courtesy Thales Alenia Space

The launch of GX5 will mark the next stage in the transformation of GX Aviation. Inmarsat is planning to launch a further 7 GX payloads over the coming four years, including two payloads dedicated to the Arctic region. The new Global Xpress (GX) payloads will support the rapidly growing demand for seamless, reliable, high-speed mobile broadband services in the Arctic and throughout the world.

In commercial markets, the GX Arctic payloads are designed to specifically address the needs of merchant fleets, fishing vessels, commercial airlines and the energy market, where high-speed mobile broadband connectivity is driving both major operational and efficiency improvements and supporting the introduction of new business models.