Satellite firm Avanti teams up with Inmarsat

British small cap Avanti Communications, which is trying to put its first telecommunications satellite into space, said on Friday it had teamed up with British satellite operator Inmarsat.

Avanti, which hopes to launch the HYLAS satellite in 2009, said Inmarsat would provide its existing network and satellite control centres; Inmarsat's constellation of satellites covers more than 85 percent of the globe.

Avanti was surprisingly granted the right to put a geostationary satellite into space, covering parts of Europe, India, The Middle East, Asia, Africa and the Americas, beating off other established rivals in 2006. It is building HYLAS with the European Space Agency and aims to sell its capacity to telecommunications firms.