A British satellite communications company, now part of Viasat, that provides safety, voice and broadband links for ships, aircraft and remote places, with its headquarters at City Road in London.
Inmarsat provides communications by satellite to people and organisations who work where ordinary phone and internet networks do not reach. Its customers include governments, aid agencies, media crews and businesses, especially in shipping, aviation and mining. Its services have included voice calls and data tracking, high-speed internet through its Global Xpress network, the BGAN, FleetBroadband and SwiftBroadband services, IsatPhone satellite phones, and inflight connectivity through the European Aviation Network. It also provides distress and safety services (GMDSS), free to ships and aircraft that need to call for help.
The company began in 1979 as INMARSAT, an intergovernmental organisation set up at the request of the International Maritime Organization, mainly to improve safety at sea. In the 1980s it expanded into communications for aircraft. It became a private company in 1999. In 2009 it bought Stratos Global, and in 2015 it launched Global Xpress, a network of satellites using the Ka-band, a radio frequency that carries large amounts of data. No formal mission statement was found, but its public safety purpose is long-standing.
Inmarsat is a British company with its head office in London. Wikipedia places it near Old Street roundabout, at 99 City Road, EC1Y 1AX, and its earlier offices were at Euston Tower. In 2023 it was bought by the US company Viasat, which has said it intends to keep Inmarsat a UK-based business. Viasat's April 2024 announcement of a new International Business Headquarters in London says that the site also houses its UK Network Operations Centre and Satellite Control Centre. These are the teams who watch over the network and fly the satellites. The announcement says the London team works on maritime, aviation and government connectivity and on an innovation centre looking at the internet of things and direct-to-device links.
On people and culture, Viasat says it believes that everyone and everything in the world can be connected, and wants to build a global communications network that is reliable, secure and affordable. At the London opening, Viasat's president of global operations, Jason Smith, said that innovation and scalable execution are key to growth in the satellite communications industry. The UK's then Minister for Space, Andrew Griffith, described the opening as a sign of the UK's growing reputation as a space hub. Those are statements by the company and a minister, not our checks. Wikipedia gave about 1,500 staff in 2019, an older figure.
People in a company like this work in satellite and network operations, engineering, software, cyber security, product management and customer support, as well as finance, legal and human resources. Many jobs are about keeping a service running day and night for people who depend on it, such as a ship's crew. Physics, engineering, computing and maths lead there, though business roles suit other degrees. The company's website shows what is open.
Website: www.inmarsat.com
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