Inmarsat to launch second Global Xpress satellite in early February

Inmarsat will launch its second Global Xpress (GX) satellite, providing high-speed mobile broadband, on 1 February using a Proton launch vehicle, only two days later than had been expected.

The FTSE 250 group confirmed that this will be the second of three launches, with the final satellite launch to come early in the second quarter of the year, with Inmarsat beginning global commercial GX services early in the second half of the year.

This will, the company said, the company to market a "seamless, superfast mobile broadband services across the planet".

The Boeing-built Inmarsat-5 F2 (I-5 F2) satellite, part of Inmarsat's $1.6bn GX programme, will be launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

GX will be the world's first globally available, high-speed mobile broadband service, delivered through a single network operator, and will deliver broadband speeds more than 100 times faster than the company's fourth generation satellites.

GX will deliver global Ka-band services with improved broadband speeds of up to 50Mbps and management has targeted an
additional $500m of revenues from GX by 2020.

Chief executive Rupert Pearce said: "Global Xpress is a truly transformational technology and, as we complete its global roll-out, 2015 promises to be one of the most significant chapters in our company's history.

"Through Global Xpress, the world can move forward from the 'Internet of Everything' to the 'Internet of Everywhere', in which high-speed, reliable and secure connectivity is available anywhere and at any time - even in the most inaccessible regions - for customers on the move or to fixed locations.

"We believe that our new global network will power innovation, support economic development and help transform social services, from education to healthcare, in regions not adequately served - or not served at all - by terrestrial networks."