Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more! Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Inmarsat, which is flying for the first time with SpaceX, had hoped to have its $250 million F4 satellite in orbit last year, but the flight was delayed after a Falcon 9 exploded on the launch pad as it was being fueled for a preflight engine test on Sept. 1. The delay cost SpaceX a second launch contract with London-based Inmarsat, which instead hired European competitor Arianespace for a mission now slated to fly in late June aboard an Ariane 5 rocket. SpaceX, which has now flown the Falcon 9 six times successfully since the launch pad accident, has a backlog of more than 70 missions, worth more than $10 billion. Inmarsat has an option for another future flight with SpaceX. Inmarsat-5 F4 completes the company's four-member, $1.6 billion broadband satellite constellation called Global Xpress, which provides global, mobile communications for airlines, ships, government agencies and other customers. The fifth-generation satellites, which were built by Boeing, provide downlink communication speeds of up to 50 megabits per second and uplink speeds of up to 5 megabits per second for customers on land, at sea or in the air, Inmarsat said in a press release. That speed is about 100 times faster than Inmarsat's previous-generation system provided. Customers for the Global Xpress' inflight Wi-Fi services include Lufthansa Group and Austrian Airlines. The previous three satellites in the network were launched aboard Russian Proton rockets in 2013 and 2015.