EMS Technologies, Inc. announced Monday that the Space & Technology/Montreal division of EMS Technologies Canada, Ltd., has recently delivered the first two of three Inmarsat-4 L-Band Antenna Feeds to Astrium Limited in Portsmouth, England.
These antenna feed arrays are designed, manufactured and tested by EMS Space & Technology/Montreal for the Inmarsat-4 program. The last antenna feed is scheduled for delivery at the end of April.
The Inmarsat-4 antennas are highly complex, PIM-free, 120-element, combined transmit/receive L-Band arrays. PIM (Passive Intermodulation) is a significant technical issue on any high-power satellite, particularly those that provide mobile satellite services, and the reduction and elimination of PIM is among EMS’s core competencies.
The Inmarsat 4 Antennas have been designed to support high-speed (432 kbit/s) mobile Internet access, video-on-demand, video-conferencing, fax and e-mail for companies across the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia through the INMARSAT Broadband Global Area Network (B-GAN) program.
EMS’s multi-element cup-helix L-Band antenna feeds are considered to be one of the most challenging subsystems of the INMARSAT B-GAN program. “EMS has a long heritage in high-performance multi-element antenna feeds for mobile satellite communications.
This heritage was a key factor in the selection of EMS to supply these critical spacecraft components,” said Dr. Gerry Bush, president, EMS’s Space & Technology/Montreal.
Inmarsat owns and operates a global satellite network, has operating licenses in 177 countries and is used by a worldwide group of service providers, together offering a comprehensive range of mobile communication service in the air, on land and at sea.
In April 1999, Inmarsat changed from being an intergovernmental organization to a private limited company registered in the UK. Inmarsat currently has over 197,000 users serviced by around 200 Inmarsat service providers in more than 80 countries.
Astrium is a joint company currently owned 75 per cent by EADS, European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, and 25 per cent by BAE SYSTEMS. EMS Technologies, Inc. is a leading innovator in the design and manufacture of wireless, satellite and defense solutions. The Company is headquartered in Atlanta, and employs 1,700 people worldwide.
