Boeing [BA] and Artel have entered a cooperative agreement to distribute Inmarsat-3, -4 and -5 satellite constellation bandwidth to potential U.S. government customers, according to a Boeing statement.
Inmarsat-3 (I-3) and Inmarsat-4 (I-4) are satellite constellations operated by British-based Inmarsat, a provider of global mobile satellite communications services. I-3 was launched in the late 1990s while I-4, which is 60 times more powerful than an I-3, went into orbit in 2005 and is expected to continue in commercial operation until about 2020.
Inmarsat-5 (I-5) is a new constellation of Ka-band satellites built by Boeing. It will offer broadband speeds of 50 megabits per second, is planned to start rolling out in 2013 and will be fully operational in 2014, according to Jim Mitchell, vice president of Boeing Commercial Satellite Services.
Mitchell said in an email that I-5 revenue would not start until 2013 because “current acquisition guidelines preclude the government customers to commit to on-orbit assets until just a few months before launch.”
Mitchell said that Boeing and Artel’s initial target market is the Defense Department and the intelligence community. He also said the I-5 bandwidth would be marketed to government customers that have unmet wideband satellite communications needs, “either due to no access or limited access to the Wideband Global Satellite constellation.”
Satellites provide communications links for unmanned and manned airborne platforms, naval forces and ground forces deployed into theater, Mitchell said.
Mitchell also said the Boeing-Ardel business model is similar to a model satellite operators and service providers use with the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA).
“The Boeing and Artel business model focuses on putting commercial capacity in space and then making that capacity available to government customers on a lease, lease to buy or any other mutually acceptable timeframe,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said the Boeing-Artel team will explore offering bandwidth to international customers.