Israeli satellite operator Spacecom has secured a US$200m contract with local manufacturer Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to construct its Amos-6 spacecraft.
The company said in a stock exchange filing on 24 June that a provider had yet to be…
Israeli satellite operator Spacecom has secured a US$200m contract with local manufacturer Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to construct its Amos-6 spacecraft.
The company said in a stock exchange filing on 24 June that a provider had yet to be secured for a 2015 launch of the bird, but it anticipates this costing US$85m.
As previously reported, the company is looking to tap debt markets to finance Amos-6, which will be placed at its 4W hotspot. At this location it will help to replace the Amos-2 bird that is set to retire in 2017, providing broadband services to enterprise and consumer customers in Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Israel, with a bridge to the US East Coast.
Spacecom said it plans to secure financing that includes funding support from countries where the project’s suppliers are located, such as Israel.
Also on 24 June, Canadian space technology firm MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) announced that it had been selected to supply a communications payload solution for Amos-6. MDA said it expected to finalise this US$90m contract in the coming month. The manufacturer was unable to comment on whether Canada will be supporting the project’s financing as a result of the contract.
Back in January, Spacecom told SatelliteFinance that it was aiming to secure this financing in Q2 2012, and it would be dependent on what manufacturer was chosen.
Gil Ilany, Spacecom’s VP for marketing, said at the time that the funding could be secured just weeks after the manufacturing mandate.
The company declined to comment on the financing plans, which are understood to be progressing.
With a total of 42 transponders, Amos-6 will be bigger than Spacecom’s earlier Amos-5, Amos-3 and Amos-2 satellites combined.
IAI is Spacecom’s traditional manufacturer of satellites, although for the Amos-5 bird that was launched in December 2011 it accepted a low cost offer from Russia’s ISS-Reshetnev.
