SatelliteFinance understands that ViaSat and Boeing have applied for export credit agency support from the US Export Import Bank for the ViaSat-2 project.
Sources claim the application has been filed and that it is currently being considered by the US…
SatelliteFinance understands that ViaSat and Boeing have applied for export credit agency support from the US Export Import Bank for the ViaSat-2 project.
Sources claim the application has been filed and that it is currently being considered by the US ECA. A spokesman for ViaSat would not comment on the speculation, while ExIm did not respond to press enquiries.
ViaSat has previously estimated that its forthcoming high-throughput satellite will cost a total US$625m, with the Boeing satellite construction contract worth just over US$350m. The remainder comprises the launch, insurance and ground segment costs.
Speaking to SatelliteFinance in May 2013 when ViaSat-2 was ordered from Boeing, ViaSat founder and CEO Mark Dankberg said he was looking at a number of financing options for the spacecraft, including government-backed credit facilities.
Last November, ViaSat agreed a new US$500m revolving credit facility with a syndicate of banks led by Union Bank. The facility was US$175m larger than ViaSat’s previous revolver, secured in May 2012.
Based on the Boeing 702HP satellite bus, ViaSat-2 has double the bandwidth of its predecessor and seven times the coverage area. This enables ViaSat to expand into
Central America, the Caribbean and the northern portion of South America, as well as push further into the maritime and in-flight broadband markets by covering key routes across the Atlantic Ocean.
The satellite is due to be launched in mid-2016, although a launch services provider has yet to be selected.
In its recent third quarter of fiscal year 2014 results, ViaSat stated that it had made payments totalling about US$94m year-to-date for ViaSat-2. Indeed its capital expenditure doubled year-on-year.
Overall, ViaSat reported strong results with revenues up 24% year-on-year to US$1bn for the fiscal year-to-date, and adjusted EBITDA increasing 34% to US$163.8m.
