On 24 September, launch services provider Sea Launch placed into orbit a satellite for the first time since it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2009.
Eutelsat’s Atlantic Bird 7 was launched on a Zenit 3-SL rocket from the…
On 24 September, launch services provider Sea Launch placed into orbit a satellite for the first time since it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2009.
Eutelsat’s Atlantic Bird 7 was launched on a Zenit 3-SL rocket from the launcher’s floating Odyssey Launch Platform in the Pacific Ocean. Located at 7W, the Astrium built bird will cover North Africa and the Middle East providing Ku-band DBS services.
The next launch is scheduled for October, however this time, the satellite, Intelsat 18, will be lofted from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan as it was previously a Land Launch contract that Sea Launch took control of in the summer due to Zenit hardware supply chain issues.
More recently, on 12 September, Sea Launch announced that it has been selected to launch Intelsat 19. Commenting on the contract, Sea Launch president Kjell Karlsen said: “Signing with an industry leader like Intelsat validates our customer-focused approach. We look forward to working even closer with the Intelsat and Space Systems/Loral teams in the months ahead.”
One of the main reasons for Sea Launch filing for bankruptcy protection was a crisis in the hardware supply chain of its Russian and Ukrainian suppliers, which meant it could not meet its launch manifest.
About a year ago, in late October 2010, Sea Launch emerged from Chapter 11 under the new majority ownership of Russian manufacturer Energia.
Prior to filing for bankruptcy, Boeing was Sea Launch’s largest shareholder with a 40% stake, the remainder being held by Energia (25%), Aker (20%), and Ukraine’s PO Yuzhnoye Mashinostroitelny Zavod (10%) and KB Yuzhnoye (5%).
Besides changing hands, the company also moved its headquarters from the US to Switzerland during the restructuring process.
Sea Launch’s comeback increases the competition for the likes of ILS and Arianespace, which for the last two years shared most of the commercial heavy launch market.
In July, when asked whether he was concerned about increased competition from established players, Arianespace CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall told SatelliteFinance: “Competition is fierce but our motto at Arianespace is ‘Launches speak louder than words’.”
For his part, ILS president Frank McKenna said in late February: “They [Sea Launch] have to prove themselves over time in order to be considered a viable competitor in the market.”