Airbus Defense and Space has expanded its strategic agreement with Inmarsat on Global Xpress high-speed broadband with a new agreement extending reselling of the ultra-fast broadband service to the US government market.

The announcement adds a key additional market to the existing strategic Global Xpress distribution partnership agreement, concluded in December 2013, by extending delivery of Ka-band subscription services to Airbus Defense and Space's clients specifically in the US government market.

The tier-one reseller agreement will enable Airbus Defense and Space to offer Inmarsat's broadband satellite service to its channel partners and direct customer base, building on Airbus Defense and Space's 25 years of experience working with the US government and military markets.

"Our customers will have access to a global network that is designed for interoperability with government Ka-band networks and its small terminals can support a comprehensive range of bandwidth-intensive mobile applications including airborne intelligence, live full-motion video, special operations and theatre backhaul," said Ed Spitler, president of Airbus Defense and Space's government satellite communications unit in the US.

An early adopter to Global Xpress, Airbus Defense and Space already has several partner agreements in place to deliver this satellite service through its worldwide distribution channels covering the maritime, enterprise, government and defense sectors.

Global Xpress will be the world's first globally available high-speed broadband service delivered via a Ka-band satellite network. The full constellation of three Global Xpress satellites will provide secure, seamless and consistently high quality connections to both fixed and mobile users.

Since its launch last December, the first Global Xpress satellite and its supporting ground network and terminal infrastructure have gone through extensive tests achieving commercial service introduction (CSI) on July 1, 2014 with United States (US) Government customers as the inaugural customers for the new service. The launch of the next two Global Xpress spacecraft will provide worldwide coverage which is on pace for global CSI in 2015.

"We welcome this further extension of our enduring partnership with Inmarsat to bring the benefits of Global Xpress to our US government and military customer base through AuroraGlobal, our suite of new high throughput satellite communication services," Spitler said.

Airbus Defense and Space, a trusted provider of commercial and military satellite communications solutions to the US government, is the world's first and largest commercial operator of military hardened and protected Skynet X-band and UHF satellites. A leading provider of customized and secure end-to-end satellite communications services, the company delivers a full portfolio of fixed satellite solutions (X-Band, C-Band, Ku-Band and Ka-Band) and mobile satellite solutions, including Inmarsat, to the US government and military for their most critical missions.

For US government customers, Airbus Defense and Space provides communications services through a one-stop-shop provisioning arrangement. The company's solutions are cost-effective, secure and scalable with Quality of Service (QoS) that is guaranteed to support the most critical missions including comms-on-the-move, asset tracking, troop welfare, infrastructure design and operation, and civil security.