Inmarsat is currently offering a maritime service. Article below is from Jan. 29.
I don't know very much about it but hardware is much bulkier and appears to much more expensive. But then again, I don't think portability of the device is all that important on a boat.
Phil
INMARSAT: Fifth and final
Inmarsat-3
ready for launch
The fifth and final satellite in the Inmarsat-3
series (F5) is ready for launch on January 30 aboard
an Ariane 4 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana.
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
(www.inmarsat.org/inmarsat/launch) 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.
CONTACT: Elizabeth Hess, Inmarsat
Tel: +44 (0)171 728 1256
Fax: +44 (0)171 728 1179
e-mail: elizabeth_hess@Inmarsat.org
WWW: www.inmarsat.org/inmarsat
*M2 COMMUNICATIONS DISCLAIMS ALL LIABILITY FOR
INFORMATION PROVIDED WITHIN M2 PRESSWIRE. DATA
SUPPLIED BY NAMED PARTY/PARTIES.*
Copyright c 1998 M2 Communications, Ltd., All Rights
Reserved.
INMARSAT: Fifth and final Inmarsat-3 ready for
launch., M2 PressWIRE, 01-29-1998. |
