British firm Inmarsat is expected to launch what it says is the “most sophisticated commercial communication satellite ever built”.
The satellite firm’s I-6 F1 is due to lift off from Japan on Wednesday afternoon on board a launch vehicle built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
The satellite is the largest commercial comms satellite ever launched, Inmarsat said.
It is the firm’s first hybrid satellite, carrying two different communication network payloads, which will boost infrastructure networks such as maritime and aviation safety, remote agriculture and emergency response, and also in-flight WiFi on planes and secure communications for heads of state.
Inmarsat chief executive Rajeev Suri told the PA news agency that the satellite had been designed to stay in orbit for at least 15 years, and could eventually be used to support not just present-day technology but also future innovations such as the networks needed to deploy flying taxis.
“What it will offer our customers is a…
