Mission success: Inmarsat’s EAN satellite is orbital
The EAN satellite is go. Catch up with everything that happened on launch night when the Ariane 5 rocket took it into orbit
The evening of Wednesday 28 June was a rather special night at Inmarsat HQ, as we waited with bated breath for the final countdown. When the numbers hit zero, we watched the ignition fire underneath the engines of the mighty 780-ton Ariane 5 and witnessed over 1,300 tons of thrust roar into action. The rocket would go on to hit over 25,000mph, burning through 300 kilos of fuel a second, as it pulled away from Earth’s gravity.
Inmarsat’s S-Band EAN satellite was officially on its way to Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO). The European Aviation Network (EAN) is the world’s first dedicated aviation solution to combine connectivity from a satellite, operated by Inmarsat, and a complementary LTE-based ground network, operated by Deutsche Telekom. EAN will soon be live, providing high-speed broadband to short-haul flights above Europe.
Leo Mondale, President of Inmarsat Aviation, said: “The European Aviation Network is a fundamental part of Inmarsat’s commitment to revolutionise the inflight broadband experience offered by airlines. For too long, millions of passengers have been cut off from fast, reliable and consistent broadband during flights in Europe. Those days are almost over as we introduce a new gold standard in the market, which will leapfrog outdated solutions in other parts of the world and place Europe at the very forefront of connectivity innovation".
“We are delighted that the Inmarsat-S EAN satellite has been successfully launched. This is a significant milestone for Inmarsat and the many leading European companies that are involved in the project, including Deutsche Telekom, Thales Alenia Space, Arianespace, Cobham SATCOM, Nokia, OTE and others.
It was quite the launch night. If you missed it or want to relive it, keep reading. This is everything that happened on the night that our satellite safely reached orbit.
First up, here’s our satellite – weighing in at around 5.8 tons it’s the size of a large bus. It was loaded into the rocket six days ahead of launch
Built by @Thales_Alenia_S on behalf of @InmarsatGlobal & @HellasSat the satellite will provide Mobile, Fixed & Broadcast Satellite Services pic.twitter.com/9mhXPAqzac
— Thales Alenia Space (@Thales_Alenia_S) June 29, 2017
Biggest fuelling job ever? Our #EANsat is now ready to be mated to #Ariane5 🚀. Countdown to #EuropeanAviationNetork #inflightwifi continues! pic.twitter.com/4vRqQJugtU
— Inmarsat (@InmarsatGlobal) June 12, 2017
And it’s goodbye #EANsat! Our spacecraft is safely in the #Ariane5 🚀& ready for launch on 28 June. Watch live here: https://t.co/w79F031xQq pic.twitter.com/lezQmUs3Z3
— Inmarsat (@InmarsatGlobal) June 22, 2017
Our #EANsat launches today! But how does an #Ariane5 rocket compare to an Airbus A320? https://t.co/w8c1XuxM4K pic.twitter.com/8XqY4yz2cA
— Inmarsat (@InmarsatGlobal) June 28, 2017
And here are some fascinating facts about Ariane 5 launches…
You need speed to leave Earth’s gravity. Find out how much & other amazing facts about our #EANsat 🚀 launch here: https://t.co/TbUcsSMv0C pic.twitter.com/0Ksl5Bnnjs
— Inmarsat (@InmarsatGlobal) June 27, 2017
That in mind, the launch approached..
Watched it live from @Inmarsat
— gethinsinflight (@gethinsinflight) June 28, 2017
S band Satellite in orbit #paxex for inflight wi-fi in Europe pic.twitter.com/sVeDK9WgZi
4 hours & counting until #EANsat launches from French Guiana! Are you ready for #inflightwifi over Europe? https://t.co/dMpxJ69rXg pic.twitter.com/G038yW8w9j
— Inmarsat (@InmarsatGlobal) June 28, 2017
Finally, lift-off!
Witness our #EANsat liftoff on an @Arianespace #Ariane5 rocket on 28 June at 21:15 UTC! An incredible launch 🚀🚀🚀 pic.twitter.com/cZdMk0HvrW
— Inmarsat (@InmarsatGlobal) June 29, 2017
Our bird has taken flight! #EANsat 🛰 has successfully separated from the #Ariane5 upper stage & is on its way to geo orbit. Bon voyage!
— Inmarsat (@InmarsatGlobal) June 28, 2017
We have liftoff from the Spaceport! Good luck to #Ariane5 and its satellite passengers, Hellas Sat 3-Inmarsat S EAN and GSAT-17 #VA238 pic.twitter.com/pDHNS03WE6
— Stéphane Israël (@arianespaceceo) June 28, 2017
All in a day's work. Launch of @InmarsatGlobal #EANsat by @Arianespace pic.twitter.com/yXhJJkJTQZ
— Mary Whenman (@marywhenman) June 29, 2017
Partnership and integration is at the heart of EAN. It was a great moment to celebrate alongside some of our partners
#Arianespace has a very strong partnership w/ @InmarsatGlobal. Thank you CTO Michele Franci for attending our latest success together pic.twitter.com/3mSeutZ0G6
— Stéphane Israël (@arianespaceceo) June 28, 2017
.@Thales_Alenia_S is happy to celebrate this successful launch with @InmarsatGlobal @HellasSat @Arabsat & @Arianespace #VA238 pic.twitter.com/Ls7mOaaSfP
— Thales Alenia Space (@Thales_Alenia_S) June 29, 2017
Successful Launch of #EANsat, congrats from team #Telekom to @InmarsatAv @Thales What an important milestone for transforming #PaxEx! pic.twitter.com/CK5WRRArVt
— David Fox (@inflightfox) June 28, 2017
Very proud to be the STC provider of @InmarsatGlobal @deutschetelekom launch Customer for A320 aircraft #EANsat #IAG ! Bravo fo the launch pic.twitter.com/jDjlm6UPXS
— EADAerospace (@EADAerospace) June 29, 2017
Proud to be present at the @InmarsatGlobal launch 🚀 of #EANsat. @eclipsefr and @EADAerospace providing a key role for the launch customer. pic.twitter.com/ZzprDPILog
— Jamie Palmer (@b1ggles2) June 28, 2017
Successful launch, CONFIRMED
#EANsat launch success confirmed! A key milestone is achieved for our #EuropeanAviationNetwork #inflightwifi service https://t.co/P5YB0a40SW pic.twitter.com/s5ZnVMM89C
— Inmarsat (@InmarsatGlobal) June 29, 2017
Anddddddd we’re holding... pic.twitter.com/yneFLHUIig
— Jason Rabinowitz (@AirlineFlyer) June 28, 2017
Congratulations @Inmarsat & partners. Can't wait to see how #EANsat transforms #PaxEx, #airline operations & ancillary revenue opportunities https://t.co/JCFewzXvHT
— Maryann Simson (@JetwayMJ) June 29, 2017
Huge thanks @Thales_Alenia_S, @Arianespace & satellite partner @HellasSat for the successful launch of our #EANsat! https://t.co/hYyMbu9lWi pic.twitter.com/yVYBkganwH
— Inmarsat (@InmarsatGlobal) June 29, 2017
#Ariane5 marks its 80th consecutive success deploying spacecraft for @InmarsatGlobal, @HellasSat and @ISRO to GTO https://t.co/ASmqUBiFHz
— Arianespace (@Arianespace) June 29, 2017
And we got closer to bringing ground-breaking Wi-Fi to the skies of Europe
.@InmarsatGlobal's hybrid space/ground system for wifi on European short-haul flights comes a step closer https://t.co/sfv3nlHI0N pic.twitter.com/fxKxbXzKxW
— Jonathan Amos (@BBCAmos) June 29, 2017
Inmarsat CEO promises top-quality Wi-Fi experience in-flight https://t.co/F2ElrodfES
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) June 29, 2017
We now need to wait until the satellite is fully operational. The launch team from Inmarsat and Thales Alenia Space will raise the satellite into its geostationary orbit over Europe and the Middle East, at which point the spacecraft will deploy its solar arrays and reflectors, and undergo rigorous payload testing.
When fully operational, according to Inmarsat’s Frederik van Essen, we will be able to provide Europe with “around seven and half times the bandwidth currently supplied in the US” letting Europe “leapfrog the US” in terms of inflight broadband technology.
This launch marks the start of a new era, says Rolf Nafziger, Senior Vice President, International Wholesale Business Unit at Deutsche Telekom: “Broadband internet in the skies over Europe. It has been and still is an incredible journey, but thanks to all the people involved and especially our partner Inmarsat, it is finally going to become a reality.”
It’s still a short while until EAN goes live for passengers but this launch takes us one giant step closer.