Hong Kong’s ABS is understood to have terminated a contract with Boeing to build its next satellite over concerns about the US Ex-Im Bank’s ability to finance it.
Sources said they are continuing to negotiate the terms of a deal involving a…
Hong Kong’s ABS is understood to have terminated a contract with Boeing to build its next satellite over concerns about the US Ex-Im Bank’s ability to finance it.
Sources said they are continuing to negotiate the terms of a deal involving a satellite.
Both companies declined to comment.
It is the first satellite casualty since the US export credit agency stopped taking new orders in July after losing its mandate. Hopes that Ex-Im could soon reopen took a blow recently when Congress went into recess until September without first reauthorising the agency.
ABS-8 was set to be based on Boeing’s all-electric 702SP platform, with 50 transponders comprising regional C and Ku-band beams, along with high powered Ku-band spot beams and a steerable Ka-band beam.
California’s SpaceX, which has also been heavily supported by Ex-Im, had been lined up to launch it in late 2017.
The manufacturing contract was announced in mid-June and Boeing’s domestic rival SSL is thought to have joined it in the final bidding shortlist.
Although based in the US, SSL has previously been able to secure financing from Canada’s export credit agency because its parent company MDA is headquartered in the country.
However, the dollar’s rise against the euro could also give European satellite makers like Airbus a key advantage if the contract goes up for tender again. French ECA Coface has been an active player in the satellite manufacturing and launch market in recent years.
Boeing built ABS’s last two satellites, ABS-3A and ABS-2A, which are also all-electrics and picked SpaceX for their launches.
The operator aims to launch ABS-8 to 116.1E to replace ABS-7. SatelliteFinance understands that it will be the flag carrier for a new patented technology that ABS has been developing called Ultra Throughput Satellite (UTS).
The group, which already has a US$450m financing package from Ex-Im, has plans to order two more UTS satellites in the next two years.
