Turns out Arctic coverage is all the rage now. Inmarsat, newly draped in Viasat’s corporate cape, has decided it can no longer live with the unbearable injustice of patchy satellite coverage near the poles. GX‑10A and GX‑10B, two satellites designed to do what geostationary satellites have utterly failed at for decades, will now shine a high-throughput Ka-band spotlight on the Arctic. Forget beaches and cities, this one’s for the penguins, or more accurately, government suits on covert missions and maritime patrols who just can’t live without a stable Zoom call.
These satellites will hang out in Highly Elliptical Orbit, an elegant orbital compromise that screams, “I’m too good for GEO, but not quite ready for full LEO chaos.” Northrop Grumman built the hardware. Space Norway plays landlord. Viasat handles the airtime, and Inmarsat, well, it now just goes wherever Viasat points.
