NSSLGlobal Ltd, the independent service provider of satellite communications and a Global Xpress (GX) Value Added Reseller (VAR) for Inmarsat’s Global Government business unit, focused on providing Inmarsat services to non-US government customers worldwide, has completed the first external global government test of the new Ka-Band network. NSSLGlobal achieved a successful connection to the Inmarsat-5 F1 GX satellite, launched on 8 December 2013. Connection was made on Thursday 19th June at 3:53pm via the Panther GX VSAT terminal from L-3 Communications. As a primary beta tester and European government VAR, NSSLGlobal will initiate a number of live demonstrations and beta tests with military and governmental bodies in Europe following the success of this initial test. Further testing will take place with the UK’s Royal Navy when the full constellation of three satellites are deployed and providing global GX coverage. Inmarsat expects to complete the launch of the second and third Inmarsat-5 satellites in time to allow global commercial service to commence in the first half of 2015. “Around the world, governments are demanding more and more bandwidth to support their mission critical communications and are relying even further on satellite communications to fulfil this requirement. Inmarsat’s GX is an ideal solution for all government departments, particularly military, as it offers reliable, seamless global coverage and most importantly, it’s highly secure,” commented Sally-Anne Ray, Managing Director, NSSLGlobal. “It has been a great honour to be the first Global Government VAR to test GX.”
“NSSLGlobal has been offering and supporting Inmarsat’s services for over 30 years, most recently becoming a VAR for GX in the European military and government markets. The organisation has extensive experience of meeting the specialised needs of European government customers, which made it the ideal partner to host this demonstration of GX,” explained Gordon McMillan, Director, GX Government Services, Inmarsat. “The government market is key for GX and we look forward to continuing to work closely with NSSLGlobal in delivering our Ka-Band solution.”
Global Xpress will be the first globally available Ka-Band broadband satellite network providing high bandwidth services to a range of land, maritime and aviation terminals, delivered through a resilient, secure waveform which is optimised for mobility. Integrated seamlessly with Inmarsat’s current L-band network, Global Xpress will ensure reliable
communications in support of mission critical operations in the most challenging environments.