Archive for the ‘Inmarsat’ Category
Inmarsat to Demonstrate Space-Based BGAN Terminal
Inmarsat Navigation Ventures, Ltd. in London, England recently received an $18 million firm-fixed-price demonstration contract to develop and certify a transceiver terminal for their 3-satellite Inmarsat (BGAN) service. The terminals must be capable of operation from on-board low Earth orbit satellites, and the BGAN network will require modifications to support space-based terminal equipment. Under the contract, Immarsat will support the integration of the space-based BGAN terminal with a government demonstration satellite, and support the on-orbit connectivity via the BGAN network for the demonstration satellite mission.
Work is to be performed in London, England (20.60%); Golden, CO (64.76%); Aylesbury, England (11%); Norresundby, Denmark (2.15%); and Ontario, Canada (1.49%), with an estimated completion date of Sept 13/15. One bid was solicited with one bid received by DARPA in Arlington, VA (HR0011-10-C-0149).
Inmarsat currently operates a fleet of 11 satellites, and their customers include governments and the military. In November 2009they bought managed secureIP provider Segovia, whose clients include the US military. The I-4 constellation is based on EADS Astrium’s Eurostar E3000 bus, but in August 2010, Immarsat announced a $1.2 billion contract with Boeing for 3 702HP-based satellites, in order to field a more advanced I-5 constellation delivering up to 6.25MB/s (50 megabits) each.
iSatPhone PRO for Polish diplomats
Company TS2 received a contract to supply satellite telephones to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland. The devices are to provide communication in emergency and will be passed to Polish embassies and consulates throughout the world. Diplomats often stay in areas with no coverage of traditional mobile networks. Now they can use generally available and safe satellite communication.
Satellite telephones are to assure mobile communication between the head office and diplomatic posts of the Ministry in the following emergencies: post evacuation, natural disaster, technical problems, overloading of local landline communication systems. They are failsafe because unlike mobile telephones they do not need land transmitters, which cannot be installed in all locations and in addition can be destroyed by natural disasters, sabotage or combat operations.
The iSatPhone phone chosen through a bidding process is indispensable in critical situations on land, in desert, mountains or on open ocean. It can work in temperatures between -20OC to +55OC and is resistant to humidity, shock and dirt. The device uses Immarsat-4s network – the newest generation of satellites assuring commercial voice communication services.
TS2 is a leading provider of domestic and international satellite communication solutions. The following are main customers of this service provider: US State Department, Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Ministry of the Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, United States Marine Corps (USMC) and US Army Corps of Engineers.
Documentation and presentation of the iSatPhone Pro satellite telephone is available at
http://www.ts2.pl/pl/IsatPhone-Pro
FTSE 100 falls for the first time in five days
The blue-chip index fell for the first time in five days but satellite operator Inmarsat managed to buck the weak market trend. Inmarsat climbed 38½ to 725p after it said LightSquared, a rival company, had activated a broadband collaboration deal, which would deliver payments totalling $337.5m (£216m).
Inmarsat – whose satellites provide voice, data and broadband services to shipping and aircraft – said the agreement would enable the companies to carve up their satellite spectrum over North America more efficiently to meet a growing demand for wireless broadband. The deal should also allow LightSquared to start 4G services. Inmarsat, in which hedge fund Harbinger Capital has a 28pc stake, said it received an initial $81.25m.The deal was originally agreed in 2007 between Inmarsat and SkyeTerra Communications before the latter was bought by Harbinger and rebranded LightSquared.
Harbinger, run by Philip Falcone, also tried to buy Inmarsat in 2008. Some dealers reckon the fund, which is trying to build a nationwide broadband wireless network in the US, may once again attempt an assault on Inmarsat.