Inmarsat now has an agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA) to become the commercial operator of a new satellite called Alphasat. The satellite is part of an ESA initiative to develop a new spacecraft platform capable of carrying a large communications payload. Alphasat is scheduled for completion in early 2012 and will supplement the existing Inmarsat-4 satellites. Alphasat will provide services over Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Plus, it will also give Inmarsat access to a new allocation of L-band radio spectrum across these regions.
As part of the agreement, Inmarsat has agreed to procure the satellite from Astrium Satellites, a subsidiary of EADS. The project represents an important collaboration with ESA, which is contributing a significant amount to the acquisition costs of the satellite, its launcher and the development of new processor technology, in partnership with Astrium. Work on the satellite payload, which will be carried out in Portsmouth and Stevenage in the UK, has also attracted funds of more than Euro 50 million from the East of England, South East England and London development agencies. Once in orbit, Inmarsat expects its investment in the satellite – excluding insurance – will be in the region of Euro 260 million, with the capital payments being phased over the period 2008 to 2013.
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