Inmarsat-6 F1 is a communications satellite to be operated by the British satellite operator Inmarsat and designed and manufactured by

Airbus Defence and Space Airbus Defence and Space is the division of Airbus SE responsible for the development and manufacturing of the corporation's defence and space products, while also providing related services. The division was formed in January 2014 during the ...

on the Eurostar 3000EOR

satellite bus A satellite bus (or spacecraft bus) is the main body and structural component of a satellite or spacecraft, in which the payload and all scientific instruments are held. Bus-derived satellites are opposed to specially produced satellites. Bus-d ...

. Part of the Inmarsat-6 satellite fleet, it will be Inmarsat's first dual-payload satellite, with capabilities in both

L-band The L band is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) designation for the range of frequencies in the radio spectrum from 1 to 2 gigahertz (GHz). This is at the top end of the ultra high frequency (UHF) band, at the lower en ...

(ELERA) and

Ka-band The Ka band (pronounced as either "kay-ay band" or "ka band") is a portion of the microwave part of the electromagnetic spectrum defined as frequencies in the range 26.5–40 gigahertz (GHz), i.e. wavelengths from slightly over one centime ...

(Global Xpress). Claimed to be the largest and most sophisticated commercial telecommunications satellite ever launched, as the first of two such vehicles, it was placed into

supersynchronous transfer orbit A supersynchronous orbit is either an orbit with a period greater than that of a synchronous orbit, or just an orbit whose apoapsis (apogee in the case of the Earth) is higher than that of a synchronous orbit. A synchronous orbit has a period equa ...

on 22 December 2021. The onboard Fakel SPT-140D

electric propulsion Spacecraft electric propulsion (or just electric propulsion) is a type of spacecraft propulsion technique that uses electrostatic or electromagnetic fields to accelerate mass to high speed and thus generate thrust to modify the velocity of a sp ...

will then raise the satellite into final

geosynchronous orbit A geosynchronous orbit (sometimes abbreviated GSO) is an Earth-centered orbit with an orbital period that matches Earth's rotation on its axis, 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds (one sidereal day). The synchronization of rotation and orbital ...

. The L-band payload supports a wide variety of purposes including very low cost mobile services and IoT applications, while the Ka-band payload augments the Global Xpress constellation.

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{{Orbital launches in 2021 Communications satellites in geostationary orbit Satellites using the Eurostar bus Inmarsat satellites Spacecraft launched in 2021

See also

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