Manufacturer
International Maritime OrganisationInmarsat 6F1
12/22/2021
Inmarsat provided an image of the Inmarsat-6 F1 satellite undergoing thermal vacuum tests with image credit to Inmarsat and Airbus Defence and Space.
Inmarsat-6 F1 also features nine steerable multi-beam Ka-band antennas.
Inmarsat-6 F1 relies on all-electric propulsion for orbit raising and will need about 200 days to climb to its geostationary slot above the Indian Ocean.
Inmarsat has commissioned ten geo-telecommunications satellites from Airbus including Inmarsat-6 F1 and Inmarsat-6 F2.
In September 2017, Inmarsat selected MHI’s H2-A rocket for a 2020 launch of Inmarsat-6 F1, the company’s first sixth-generation communications satellite.
Inmarsat’s Inmarsat-6 F1 is scheduled to launch in 2020 on a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-2A rocket and Inmarsat-6 F2 is scheduled for launch in 2021 on a to-be-announced launcher, with both satellites sourced from Airbus.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. will launch Inmarsat’s first Inmarsat-6 satellite (I-6 F1) using H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 45 (HIIA F45).
The first satellite in the Inmarsat-6 fleet (I-6 F1) is scheduled to launch on 21 December 2021.
The H-2A deployed the nearly 5,500-kilogram Inmarsat-6 F1 satellite into geostationary transfer orbit about 26 minutes after liftoff.
Inmarsat-6 F1 is the first of two identical satellites ordered from Airbus Defence and Space equipped with a hybrid L- and Ka-band payload.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries launched the first Inmarsat-6 satellite, I-6 F1, in December 2021.
Both Inmarsat-6 F1 and Inmarsat-6 F2 carry a hybrid L- and Ka-band payload for providing mobile connectivity services to maritime, aviation, and government customers.
Inmarsat-6 F1 used its onboard electric propulsion to climb to a geostationary testing location in summer 2022.
Inmarsat-6 F1 and Inmarsat-6 F2 carry modular digital processors that provide full routing flexibility over up to 8,000 channels and dynamic power allocation to over 200 spot beams in L-band per spacecraft.
The first Airbus-built Inmarsat-6 satellite, I-6 F1, was launched in December 2021.
Inmarsat-6 F1 reached its geostationary testing location in summer 2022 and was scheduled to enter service in early 2023.
Both Inmarsat-6 F1 and Inmarsat-6 F2 were built by Airbus and are equipped with a hybrid Ka-band and L-band payload.
Inmarsat-6 F1 launched in December 2021 and Inmarsat-6 F1 and F2 together effectively double Inmarsat’s usable L-band capacity.