How an office in Mount Pearl played a role in getting a satellite to space
Inmarast's largest regional office calls Donovan's Industrial Park home
It's being called the world's most advanced satellite, and it's making a months-long journey to its geostationary orbit, 36,000 kilometres above the equator — and a team of people in Newfoundland helped it on its way.
The company behind the satellite, Inmarsat, has locations in 40 different countries, including an office of about 200 people in Mount Pearl.
"We are out here in Donovan's Industrial Park and people pass by us every day and they don't really know the technology and the things that we are doing globally here," said Tim Brown, the Mount Pearl office's senior director of operations.
It's far from a new company, explains senior vice-president of group IT David Thornhill — it's been on the ground in Newfoundland for decades.
The company started out in the mid-'80s as Ultimate East before becoming New East and then Stratos Global. Inmarsat bought it in 2009 and integrating it into the company in 2012.
The sleek space in Mount Pearl — an office featuring eight clocks in the lobby, dispalying times in Europe, Asia and the North America — is Inmarsat's largest regional office.
On Thursday, staff enjoyed a breakfast catered by Rocket Bakery to rewatch the Feb. 17 launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying the I-6 F2 satellite from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Some of the staff in Mount Pearl were directly involved with working on parts of the satellite, which will aid the company's communications work.
"I think it is an amazing feat for us," Brown said.
"We are the global leader in satellite communications so this gives us a lot more capabilities, has opened up more markets and continues to show our investment in satellite."
If you haven't heard of the company, you're not alone.
Despite the groundbreaking work done just off the highway, it took a Beluga Airbus landing in St. John's earlier this month to allow people to take notice.
"It always kind of shocks me that my friends don't really know about it but a Beluga airplane drops in and they go, 'Wow, you work for Inmarsat don't you?'" said Brown, who runs teams in the United Kingdom, Norway and Indonesia.
"I spend most of my life explaining to friends and family who Inmarsat is and what it does."
Originally from Mount Pearl, not far from where he works now, Brown left the province to pursue his career before coming home in 2010.
"I lived all over the world, lived in different places, travelled to different places, but to be able to work from home and to be able to work for one of the most innovative companies that is in the satellite business and space industries that's a really unique opportunity," Brown said.
Kelly Eddison, the IT business solutions director, has had similar reactions when talking about her work.
"We are everywhere," she said.
"Being a part of this company you get to travel too but you don't realize that we are just this little place in Donovans Industrial Park that no one knows about. There's a satellite dish out front but no one is curious and wondering, 'What's going on there?'"
Eddison, originally from St. Lunaire-Griquet, also left her home to find work in Alberta before coming home.
She's now been with the company for 17 years.
Eddison was in the room for the launch party to see Inmarsat's satellite take off.
"We are all so proud of what we do here every day and to see how that's connected to the world, and how we here are making a difference," she said.
"We are making sure that people at sea are safe, we are making sure that you have connectivity where ever you go, we are reaching down to poorer communities in Africa. It's amazing to be a part of that journey."
The I-6 F2 satellite will undergo testing for the next few months and is expected to be up and running sometime in 2024.
In the meantime, the office in Mount Pearl will continue working — the most recent satellite is just one of 14 Inmarsat has orbiting the earth, and the company's website says five more launches are planned by 2025.
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