Launch services provider Sea Launch is targeting nine launches between 2014 and 2015.
Sea Launch president Kjell Karlsen told SatelliteFinance that the company currently has three launches scheduled for the period and is aiming to secure a further six…
Launch services provider Sea Launch is targeting nine launches between 2014 and 2015.
Sea Launch president Kjell Karlsen told SatelliteFinance that the company currently has three launches scheduled for the period and is aiming to secure a further six agreements.
Karlsen said that Sea Launch completed three missions in 2012 and turned a small operating profit. Going forward, he believes that three launches would be closer to break even and four would be profitable.
Sea Launch recently revealed the signing of a new launch services agreement with an undisclosed proprietary customer for a launch in 2016 and Karlsen said that the company was on the verge of announcing a similar agreement with an undisclosed customer for a launch slated for late 2015, early 2016.
Sea Launch’s next mission is scheduled to take place in April 2014 with the launch of Eutelsat-3B. It will be the company’s first flight since the failure of Zenit rocket carrying Intelsat-27 back in February2013.
While that will be Sea Launch’s return to flight, the Zenit rocket that it uses recently completed the successful launch of Spacecom’s Amos-4 satellite via a Land Launch mission on 31 August.
Beyond the Eutelsat launch, Sea Launch has an agreement with EchoStar to launch a satellite in 2015 and is serving as a back up for an AsiaSat bird that is due to be launched by SpaceX in 2014.
Indeed, Karlsen said that the company was open to signing more back up agreements and was currently in talks over such an arrangement with one operator who has a launch on a SpaceX Falcon-9. He estimated that company could probably undertake a launch nine to ten months after a request.
Another area where Sea Launch hopes to secure new contracts is in the Russian market. State-owned satellite operators RSCC and Gazprom Space Systems currently only use the Proton rocket and Karlsen said that Sea Launch and its parent company Energia have held discussions with the government over the possibility of using the Zenit as well.
To enable it to undertake both the planned flights and any potential future agreements, Sea Launch currently has five Zenit rockets in various stages of production and is planning on ordering three more shortly.
To help the company fund these orders as well as its ongoing operational costs, Sea launch has a bridge financing of between US$25m-US$30m that it secured late last year with a state-owned bank. Energia has also provided financial assistance.
The company continues to hold discussions over a new US$200m working capital revolving credit facility that would replace the bridge and help support its hardware orders but this is still in process.
Plans fairing upgrade
Sea Launch is talking to both Energia and Boeing about increasing the Zenit’s fairing to five meters to enable it to launch the new generation of large high throughput satellites (HTS) or two smaller all-electric satellites in one rocket.
The company is currently building a business case and plans to talk to Energia’s board about the upgrade by the end of the year.
The plan mirrors similar moves by Sea Launch’s peers, Arianespace recently announcing that the French government is investing €25m to increase the Ariane 5’s fairing by up to 2 meters, while ILS has been in discussions to increase the Proton’s payload height.
The first two Boeing 702-SP all-electric birds are expected to be launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 in 2015.
