ICO Global Communications is in the final phases of preparing for the launch of its ICO G1 satellite, scheduled for one-week from today.
Last week, the company received its grant from the FCC for a milestone extension reflecting the planned launch date. Under the revised milestones, ICO is to launch the satellite by April 15th, and have its mobile satellite services (MSS) systems operational by May 15th.
The ICO G1 satellite was mated to its Atlas V launch vehicle (pictured) on April 2nd and the launch is scheduled for next Monday (April 14th) from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
“A week from today we will launch one of the largest commercial satellites ever built,” commented Tim Bryan, chief executive officer of ICO.
The geosynchronous ICO G1 Satellite is based on a Loral 1300 standard satellite platform - the same design that Sirius and XM’s latest satellites are based off of.
It has an expected service life of 15-years and
features a 12-meter antenna that focuses the 2 GHz
signals on North America.
The service, ICO mim, is scheduled to be commercially available sometime next year. It’ll offer features like real-time traffic and weather, roadside assistance/messaging (think OnStar but satellite-powered), and most notably live audio/video content.
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