Northrop Grumman’s Carpinteria, Calif.-based Astro Aerospace unit delivered its fourth deployable AstroMesh reflector to satellite builder Astrium for the Alphasat 1-XL satellite the Toulouse, France-based company is building to provide commercial broadband communications services to Europe, the Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia, Northrop Grumman said in a May 9 press release.
Astro Aerospace previously built and delivered three 9-meter AstroMesh reflectors to Astrium for the Inmarsat-4 satellites since 2004. The newly delivered reflector measures 14 meters by 11 meters fully deployed. Alphasat 1-XL, which is scheduled for completion in 2012 for launch aboard a European Ariane 5 rocket, will carry a commercial payload for London-based mobile satellite services operator Inmarsat and experimental telecommunications payloads for the European Space Agency.
