The satellite will serve as a fully functional spare for the series which already comprises four successful satellites. It will also, in the near future, carry commercial communications, providing additional capacity for maritime, aeronautical and land mobile communications in the highly trafficked Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean East coverage regions.

"The new generation of Inmarsat-3 satellites has allowed us to introduce lower cost services with smaller, lower powered mobile terminals," said Warren Grace, director general of Inmarsat. "It has also given us the extra capacity and concentrated spot beam power needed for the expanding range of mobile multi-media services Inmarsat offers today."

A key feature of the Inmarsat-3 satellites is their ability to concentrate power on particular areas of high traffic. Each satellite utilises up to a maximum of seven spot beams, depending on traffic demands, and one global beam. Inmarsat-3 is eight times more powerful than the previous generation of Inmarsat-2 satellites.

The Inmarsat-3 system enabled the introduction, in January 1997, of satellite phones smaller than an A4 laptop computer and weighing about 2.2 kg including the battery. The phones, with more than 17,000 users worldwide today, offer voice, 2.4 kbit/s data and fax services.

Later this year, advanced features found in cellular systems such as Internet messaging will become available. Higher data speeds for mobile multi-media applications enabling more capable office connectivity, broadcast audio and video will be available early in 1999.

Currently, Inmarsat offers mobile multi-media communications via Inmarsat-B high-speed data at 64 kbit/sec. In fact, Inmarsat will be demonstrating Internet connectivity and live video coverage of the F5 satellite launch using the Inmarsat-B system. This feed can be seen in real time, Friday, January 30 starting at 23:00 GMT on the Inmarsat web site using Microsoft NetShow version 2.0.

Inmarsat's third generation also supports:

• D+, a two-way data messaging system specifically designed for land mobile customers utilising equipment the size of a personal CD player;
• Aero-I, which is scheduled for commercial introduction this spring. It is especially suited to short- and medium-haul commercial and passenger aircraft, providing voice and data communications through smaller, lighter and less expensive avionics equipment and antennas;
• a navigation capability which has been designed to enhance the accuracy, availability and integrity of GPS and Glonass navigation systems.

US-based Lockheed Martin Telecommunications designed the overall spacecraft and conducted its assembly, integration and testing. Matra Marconi Space of the UK manufactured the communications payload, which includes the antennas, repeater and other communications electronics.

Inmarsat's London Satellite Control Centre (SCC) will monitor the launch and manage the post-launch activities. The spacecraft will be launched into a highly elliptical transfer orbit, the lowest point, the perigee, of which is 200 km and the highest point, the apogee, of which will be the geostationary altitude of 36,000km. A series of manoeuvres will then be conducted which will place the spacecraft in near geosynchronous orbit and moving towards its testing location at 28 degrees East.

The solar arrays will be deployed and pointed towards the sun so that electrical power can be supplied to the satellite from its solar cells. The spacecraft will then be re-oriented so that its communications antennas can 'see' the Earth.

After the tests on the satellite's subsystems and its payload are completed, the satellite will be moved to its final on-station location of 25 degrees East.

The complete Inmarsat-3 constellation also includes F1, covering the Indian Ocean region, F2, covering the Atlantic Ocean East region, F3, over the Pacific Ocean region and F4, providing Atlantic Ocean West coverage.

Inmarsat is an internationally owned co-operative that provides mobile satellite communications worldwide. Established in 1979 to serve the maritime community, Inmarsat has since evolved to become the only provider of global mobile satellite communications for commercial and distress and safety applications at sea, in the air, and on land. The more than 100,000 Inmarsat customers come from diverse markets including: merchant shipping, fisheries, airlines and corporate jets, land transport, oil and gas, the news media and businesses whose executives travel beyond the reach of conventional communications.

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Satellite Launch To Boost DTH In India
Calcutta, India (SPX) Dec 28, 2005
The successful launch Thursday of India's heaviest satellite from spaceport of Kourou in French Guyana may have boosted the country's space research efforts to yet another level, but it has also lifted the spirits of at least three Direct-To-Home televisions broadcasters, one of which has been waiting for years to launch its services in India.