Rocket Launch For UK Satellite Firm Inmarsat

London-based satellite operator Inmarsat today launched its third Global Xpress satellite as it looks to expand its next-generation network.

The new satellite will help deliver broadband speeds around 100 times faster than the company's incumbent satellite constellation I-4, parts of which are now more than 10 years old.

The global coverage will aid oil and gas platforms, in-flight connectivity for airline passengers, deep sea vessels, aid agencies in disaster areas and TV news crews reporting from remote locations where there are no fixed lines.

Rupert Pearce, the Inmarsat boss, said ahead of the launch: "The completion of the Global Xpress (GX) constellation will be a significant milestone for our organisation and is fundamental to the delivery of a new era in mobile satellite communications which will change the future for us all.

"We are particularly pleased that GX will support vital programmes enabling governments to meet the rapidly changing requirements of our world, including the transformation of remote societies that are currently inadequately served by terrestrial networks."

The launch took place via a Russian Proton rocket, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12.44pm (UK time).

Tensions were high in Inmarsat's control room in London's Old Street from where a Sky News team was granted exclusive access to see the launch - broadcast live via YouTube.

This was the first time the Russian Proton rocket had be used following a crash in May when it was carrying a Mexican satellite.

This failed launch also took place from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Going from rocket lift-off to satellite separation will require five rocket burns and take nearly 16 hours. Next year the £1bn Global Xpress investment will welcome a fourth fifth-generation satellite, which is currently being built and tested by Boeing in El Segundo, California

Boeing has built all of Inmarsat's fifth generation satellites.

Designed to last for 15 years, each of the Global Xpress satellites weighs 6,100kg at launch and has a wingspan wider than a Boeing 737.

Inmarsat shares have increased by a third to £9.35 in the last 12 months.