Who and what is Inmarsat?
Once lone dishes floating in the sky and controlled by the Military, satellites are today launched commercially by the hundreds and at increasingly lower costs. Payloads are $10,000/kg and less by companies like Arianespace. Satellites are either stationary in a fixed point or orbiting the earth, high- or low position, transmitting to each other, or to ground stations or both. The position and height determines your transmission ability. Low orbit satellites often suffer when faced with obstructions like mountain walls, moving satellites have varying schedules for best connectivity. There are seven different satellite systems in use today: Inmarsat, Globalstar, Iridium, Thuraya, AceS, Argos, and Orbcomm, The four Inmarsat satellites are in a geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) with the globe, giving them a fixed position over the equator at a high altitude of 36,000 km. It is a high orbit, geostationary system. Inmarsat covers the entire globe except North of 80 deg North and South of 80
