Arianespace and Inmarsat have announced the signature of the launch contract for Inmarsat’s fifth Global Xpress very high throughput communications satellite (GX-5).

The satellite will be orbited by an Ariane 5 heavy-lift launcher from the Guiana Space Center, Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana (South America) during the second half of 2019.

GX-5 will offer services covering the Middle East, Europe and the Indian sub-continent. The payload will be fully integrated into Inmarsat’s current GX high-speed network.

Inmarsat’s GX-5 satellite is based on Thales Alenia Space’s upgraded Spacebus 4000 B2 platform.

GX-5 features a design life of 16 years and will weigh about four metric tons at launch, with a payload rated at approximately 6.8kW of electrical power. It will be Ariane's tenth Inmarsat payload, following Inmarsat S EAN in June.