Further to its launch by Proton on 18 August 2008, the third Astrium-built Inmarsat-4 satellite took four apogee engine firings to reach geosynchronous orbit. Following full deployment of its 45m solar array and 80m� antenna reflector the spacecraft adopted its final Earth-pointing control mode.

All of the Eurostar E3000 spacecraft's systems are operating nominally. The payload, which includes an innovative digital processor, has been switched on and will be fully tested before the satellite is moved to its operational position at 98 degreesW and enters commercial service.

Fran�ois Auque, CEO of Astrium, stressed that "Inmarsat-4 is undoubtedly one of the most sophisticated communications satellites ever built, demonstrating Astrium's ability to construct advanced and highly flexible payloads ".

Launched in 2005, the first satellites cover 85 per cent of the world's landmass and 98 per cent of the world's population - including Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, as well as the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and part of the Pacific Ocean.

The third Inmarsat-4 satellite will complete the constellation and allow Inmarsat to achieve global coverage by positioning the Inmarsat-4 fleet accordingly. The three satellites are identical and interchangeable - their coverage is programmable and can be reconfigured in orbit.

The Inmarsat-4 satellites were built to support Inmarsat's global mobile broadband services, which deliver unprecedented voice and broadband data connectivity, at speeds of up to half-a-megabit per second, to mobile users on land, at sea and in the air.