[Satellite TODAY 04-20-10] Inmarsat completed an eight-year, 225 million euro ($302.9 million) credit facility from the European Investment Bank to fund the build and launch of the Alphasat 1-XL satellite, Inmarsat announced April 19.
    The EIB financing will rank as a senior secured creditor of Inmarsat subsidiary Inmarsat Investments Ltd. Inmarsat said it expects to make an initial draw down under the facility during the second quarter.
    Alphasat 1-XL will be built by Astrium using an Alphabus platform and will be positioned at 25 degrees East, joining Inmarsat’s fleet of 11 geostationary satellites providng mobile voice and data communications services across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Arianespace will launch the satellite in 2012.
    Separately, Inmarsat appointed Beam Communications as the developer, manufacturer and distributor of Inmarsat IsatPhone Pro docking units. Beam will produce vehicular and maritime versions of the docking unit, as well as a version to accommodate indoor use.
    The IsatPhone is planned for launch in June 2010.

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