인마새트사의 4세대 위성 F3가 한국시간으로 2008년 8월 19일 08:43분에 카자흐스탄의 Baikonur Cosmodrome에서 Proton M 로켓으로 성공적으로 발사되었습니다. 이번에 발사된 F3 위성은 인마새트 4세대 위성시리즈 중 세 번째 위성이며, 인마새트 4세대 위성을 개발하기 위하여 10여년의 개발기간과 1조5천억원의 투자를 통해 완성된 최신의 통신위성입니다. 현재 운영중인 2기의 인마새트 4세대 위성은 전세계 대륙의 약 85%까지 광대역 위성통신서비스를 제공하고 있습니다. 인마새트사는 3번째 인마새트 4세대 위성 발사와 함께 완벽한 글로벌 커버리지를 가지게 되었으며, 전 세계 어디에서나 위성 광대역 서비스를 제공할 수 있게 되었습니다. Successful launch for third Inmarsat-4 satellite 19-08-2008 - Inmarsat (LSE:ISAT), the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services, has confirmed the successful launch and acquisition of the third Inmarsat-4 satellite. The satellite was launched on a Proton Breeze M rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11:43pm BST on 18 August (4:43am 19th August, local time). Inmarsat's tracking station in Fucino, Italy was able to track the satellite while it was still coupled to the Breeze M launch vehicle. Launch provider ILS confirmed successful spacecraft separation at 8:46am BST on 19 August. The satellite is the third in the I-4 constellation, concluding a decade of development and a US$1.5 billion investment. The current constellation of two Inmarsat-4 satellites delivers mobile broadband services to 85 per cent of the world's landmass, covering 98 per cent of the world's population. The third I-4 will complete the global coverage for Inmarsat's broadband services. Global coverage Andrew Sukawaty, chief executive and chairman of Inmarsat, said: "The Inmarsat-4s are the world's most sophisticated commercial network for mobile voice and data services, and the successful launch of the third I-4 allows us to complete the global coverage for our broadband services. Once the third I-4 is operational, Inmarsat will have the only fully-funded next-generation network for mobile satellite services." The Proton Breeze M is one of the few launch vehicles capable of lifting the I-4 satellite - the size of a London double-decker bus and weighing six tons - into geostationary transfer orbit. The I-4 F3 satellite will now undergo a period of deployment and several weeks of comprehensive tests and manoeuvres before being positioned in geostationary orbit at 98º West. Inmarsat satellites are currently relied on by the world's shipping, oil exploration, defence and aviation industries to service their communications needs. Inmarsat is also the communications channel of choice for the media when reporting from the world's danger zones and for NGOs, government agencies and the United Nations when coordinating rescue efforts.