MISSION NAME
Inmarsat-6 F1 1
Status
Success
DATE
22 DEC 2021
LAUNCH PROVIDER
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Launch Pad
Yoshinobu Launch Complex LP-1
Description
Inmarsat-6 is the sixth generation of satellites for the London-based global mobile satellite communications operator Inmarsat. It consists of a dual mission to augment both L-band and Ka-band Global Xpress services. Airbus Defence and Space has been awarded a contract by Inmarsat to design and develop the first two Inmarsat-6 (I-6) mobile communications satellites, creating the most versatile mobile services satellites in its fleet. The two I-6 satellites are based on Airbus Defence and Space's Eurostar platform in its E3000e variant, which exclusively uses electric propulsion for orbit raising. The satellites take advantage of the reduction in mass that this electric propulsion technology enables for a dual payload mission, with an exceptionally large next generation digitally processed payload. I-6 F1 and F2 both carry a large 9 m aperture L-band antenna and nine multibeam Ka-band antennas, and feature a high level of flexibility and connectivity. A new generation modular digital processor provides full routing flexibility over up to 8000 channels and dynamic power allocation to over 200 spot beams in L-band. Ka-band spot beams are steerable over the full Earth disk, with flexible channel to beam allocation.
H-IIA 204
Rocket Description
H-IIA (H2A) was an expendable launch system operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The liquid-fueled H-IIA rockets have been used to launch satellites into geostationary orbit, to launch a lunar orbiting spacecraft, and to launch Akatsuki, which studied the planet Venus. Launches occur at the Tanegashima Space Center.