Mitsubishi and JAXA Launch Inmarsat I-6 F1

Credit: Mitsubishi

On Wednesday, December 22 at 10:32am ET (15:32 UTC), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and JAXA (The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency) launch the Inmarsat I-6 F1 satellite atop the H-IIA 204 rocket from LA-Y1 at the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. The Eurostar 3000EOR satellite bus was used for this mission. Inmarsat I-6 F1 is a communications satellite manufactured by Airbus Defense and Space for the British satellite operator Inmarsat. This satellite is Inmarsat's first dual-payload satellite with capabilities in both L-band and Ka band. The L-band payload is for low-cost mobile service and IoT applications, among others. The Ka band payload will improve the Global Xpress constellation. This launch wasthe 45th H-IIA launch and the 136th orbital attempt of 2021.