Inmarsat is to introduce two new satellite payloads dedicated to the Arctic region in a partnership with Space Norway and its subsidiary Space Norway HEOSAT.
The new Global Xpress (GX) payloads support the rapidly growing demand among both commercial and government users 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.
Inmarsat’s new Arctic capabilities will further increase network flexibility and efficiency through multi-beam, high-throughput capacity that can be fully dialed up and down depending on customer demand in the region. The announcement comes less than a month after Inmarsat’s decision to invest in three new GX satellites (GX7, 8 & 9) to be built by Airbus Defence & Space, which will deliver a transformational change in GX’s global capabilities, capacity and agility for the benefit of current and future Inmarsat customers, partners and investors.
Today, the Arctic Circle represents a rapidly growing connectivity region for high-quality mobile broadband with increasing requirements from government, maritime and aviation customers. Building on Inmarsat’s current capabilities up to and beyond 75º North, the new GX Arctic payloads will improve network performance in very high latitudes by flying directly overhead, providing GX antennas with much higher elevation angles to optimise throughput.