1st Jul 2008 07:15
INMARSAT ANNOUNCES SATELLITE LAUNCH DATE
LONDON, 1st July 2008 - Inmarsat plc (LSE: ISAT), the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services, today announced that International Launch Services (ILS) has scheduled its next Proton Breeze M commercial mission for 14th August (13th August GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, with the launch of the Inmarsat-4 F3 satellite.
The satellite is scheduled to be shipped to Baikonur in early July for a six-week launch programme. The Inmarsat-4 F3 satellite will complete Inmarsat's next generation global satellite network, providing broadband MSS services to users everywhere.
This is the first ILS mission since a Breeze M upper stage suffered a failure during the AMC-14 mission in March. The Proton Breeze M is ready to return to flight now that a Russian State Commission and an ILS-led independent review panel have concluded their inquiries into that incident and corrective actions have been completed.
"Having participated in the Failure Review process in its entirety, I am satisfied that the appropriate actions have been taken to deal with recent failures and to reassess the quality of the Proton vehicle. Inmarsat now expects to transport the satellite to the launch site and complete certain other formalities in sufficient time to target the launch date announced today," said Gene Jilg, Chief Technology Officer for Inmarsat.
About Inmarsat
Inmarsat plc (LSE: ISAT) is the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications. Since 1979, Inmarsat has been providing reliable voice and high-speed data communications to governments, enterprises and other organisations, with a range of services that can be used on land, at sea or in the air. The company's services are delivered through a global network of more than 500 distribution partners and service providers operating in 180 countries. For the year ended 31 December 2007, Inmarsat plc had total revenue of US$576.5 million. More information can be found at www.inmarsat.com.
For more information, please contact:
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Chris McLaughlin Inmarsat Tel: +44 20 7728 1015 Mob: +44 7796 276033 Email: [email protected] |
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