Inmarsat looking at L-Band

Website: Rapid TV News

Andrew Sukawaty, CEO at Inmarsat, says the satellite operator is looking at its 5th Generation plans, and is considering L-Band and Ka-band for investment.

“We really should be shot as a management team if we weren’t looking at this,” Sukawaty told Space News, a specialist trade newspaper.

“But we have made no decisions. We need to consider spectrum availability, orbital slots in geostationary orbit, a whole host of factors. Everything is on the table.”

Inmarsat has sent out a Request For Proposals to satellite manufacturers and has asked that they evaluate a fifth-generation satellite system.

Inmarsat is already using 4th Generation birds, and the oldest was launched in 2005 which means the fleet is good until about 2020 without need for replacement.

Inmarsat is also looking at an S-Band craft in order to exploit frequencies granted to Inmarsat by the EU.

(Solaris Mobile is also using a portion of the S-Band under a similar EU license).

However, Sukawaty says Inmarsat wants further clarification of the EU licensing system, and ideally would want a co-investing partner for S-Band.

Story link: Inmarsat looking at L-Band