Boeing

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., July 29, 2014 – In a first-of-its-kind arrangement for the company, Boeing [NYSE: BA] is providing a U.S. government customer with military Ka-band satellite communications service from a commercial satellite. Boeing is working with ViaSat to provide an integrated satellite service to the U.S. Government customer. The customer retains the rights to use the service on Inmarsat 5 through Sept. 30, 2015.

This satellite, which entered service earlier this year, is the first of four Inmarsat-5 spacecraft being built by Boeing and is a part of Inmarsat’s Global Xpress® system, the world’s first globally available high-speed mobile broadband service for government and commercial users. Boeing is authorized to resell Inmarsat capacity to U.S. government organizations to help address increasing demand for military communications bandwidth. 

“The government continues to have an unmet demand for military satellite communications, and we believe that commercially available space assets can play a vital role in helping to meet this demand,” said Jim Mitchell, vice president of Boeing Commercial Satellite Services (BCSS). “Our mission is to identify and facilitate the use of available commercial communications capacity on behalf of U.S. government customers and allies.”

Leveraging Boeing’s expertise in government environments and applications, BCSS works with the owners of active satellite systems to market available bandwidth to prospective customers and to include hosted payloads on future spacecraft.

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is one of the world's largest defense, space and security businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world’s largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is a $33 billion business with 56,000 employees worldwide. Follow us on Twitter: @BoeingDefense.

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Contact:        

Diana Ball
Boeing Space & Intelligence Systems
Office: 562-797-4303
Mobile: 714-319-1014
diana.ball@boeing.com