Inmarsat-4/F2 launch sets records for Norspace

Horten, Norway 7 November 2005 - The successful Sea Launch delivery of the second Inmarsat-4 spacecraft to orbit on 8th November sets new records for Norspace.

It brings the accumulated number of Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) filters in orbit supplied by Norspace AS® to seven thousand, and at about the same time, Norspace-supplied SAW filters have accumulated 300 million hours of fault-free operation on board well over 100 satellites in orbit. The launch of Inmarsat-4 F2 therefore further manifests Norspace as the global leader of SAW technology for space application. Designed and built by EADS Astrium, Inmarsat-4 is the world’s largest and most sophisticated commercial communications satellite. Inmarsat has purchased three I-4 spacecraft to provide its Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN), a new service that will bring seamless mobile voice and broadband Internet connectivity around the world. In order to support small terminals over the whole area with the high signal strength required, each satellite can digitally form more than 200 spot beams at L-band. Norspace’s predecessor Alcatel Space Norway designed and supplied the spacecraft’s advanced pre- and post-processors as well as the C-band feeder-link frequency conversion equipment under contract to EADS Astrium UK. Embedded in the four different equipments on each Inmarsat-4 satellite are a total of 510 SAW filters, 680 frequency converters and 28 switch matrices.