Inmarsat A completes satellite switch in AOR-W

16-01-2006 - The transition of the Inmarsat A service in the Atlantic Ocean Region West (AOR-W) to a separate satellite has been completed.

The Inmarsat A service was successfully moved at 14:00 UTC on Sunday, January 15, from the Inmarsat-3 satellite located at 54 degrees West to an Inmarsat-2 spacecraft at 98 degrees West.

The relocation preceeds entry into commercial service of the new Inmarsat-4 F2 satellite, launched last November, to provide voice and broadband data across North and South America and, ultimately, the Atlantic Ocean.

Orbital location

The change affects only the Inmarsat A service in the AOR-W and is a result of the need to avoid interference with the new Inmarsat 4 F2 satellite, which is being positioned at the same orbital location as the current Inmarsat-3 satellite covering the region.

Users of the Inmarsat A service in the AOR-W need to repoint their antennas to the Inmarsat-2 satellite in order to continue accessing the service from January 15.

Manual re-pointing

Some Inmarsat A terminals may find the satellite automatically. For non-automatic cases, it will be necessary for the operators to initiate a manual re-pointing as per the instructions in their mobile earth station (MES) manual.

Instructions on antenna positioning can also be found in Appendix C of the Inmarsat Maritime Handbook, which is available for download via the Inmarsat customer services website at support.inmarsat.com/techsupport/service_guides.aspx