Inmarsat 5 F1 spacecraft (SC) in Hall 101 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Photo: Inmarsat

[Via Satellite 12-2-13] Inmarsat has confirmed the launch date for the first Global Xpress (GX) satellite, Inmarsat 5 F1 (I-5 F1). The satellite is scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard an International Launch Services (ILS) Proton Breeze M rocket at 12:12 GMT on Sunday Dec. 8. The satellite was built by Boeing and is the first of three for the Global Xpress network.

“Global Xpress is the result of three years of planning and, together with a fourth GX satellite we ordered recently from Boeing, represents an investment of $1.6 billion in our next generation of high bandwidth, high capacity, mobile broadband communications satellites,” said Rupert Pearce, CEO of Inmarsat.

The GX fleet is on schedule to achieve full global coverage by the end of 2014.  The full constellation will offer global coverage from a single operator at a performance rate of up to 50Mbps for mobile or fixed terminals.