A monthly round-up of space industry developments for the information of our clients and friends.
LORAL AND VIASAT SETTLE LAWSUITS On September 6 and 7, Loral Space & Communications Inc. (Loral) and ViaSat Inc. (ViaSat) announced respectively the settlement of all outstanding claims relating to patent infringement and breach of contract lawsuits brought by ViaSat against former Loral subsidiary Space Systems/Loral LLC (SSL) in February 2012 and against Loral and SSL in September 2013. In April 2014, a U.S. District Court in San Diego determined that SSL infringed three ViaSat patents and breached its non-disclosure agreement with ViaSat in connection with SSL's design and manufacture of the Jupiter-1 (now EchoStar XVII) satellite for Hughes Network Systems, LLC. The other lawsuit, which covered additional ViaSat patents and alleged infringement by additional SSL satellites, was expected to go to trial in early 2016. Pursuant to the settlement agreement, Loral and SSL will pay to ViaSat $100m, with interest, over the coming two and a half years in exchange for ViaSat's agreement to settle all of its claims under both suits. The payment to ViaSat will be shared equally between Loral and SSL, subject to arbitration in October 2014 to determine if a different allocation is warranted.
EDC PROVIDES FINANCING TO HISPASAT On September 12, Export Development Canada announced financing of €123m to Hispasat S.A. (Hispasat) for the procurement by Hispasat of the Hispasat 1F satellite from MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA). To be manufactured by MDA subsidiary Space Systems/Loral LLC, Hispasat 1F will be equipped with Ku- and Ka-band payloads, which will provide the Spanish satellite operator additional capacity for coverage of Brazil and the Andean region, transatlantic routes and Europe.
SEPTEMBER LAUNCH CONTRACTS On September 8 and 9, Arianespace S.A. announced that it was selected by several satellite operators to launch future satellites: Al Yah 3 for Al Yah Satellite Communications Company PrJSC on an Ariane 5 ECA in 2016; Koreasat 7 for KT Sat Co., Ltd. on an Ariane 5 in 2016; Intelsat 36 for Intelsat S.A. on an Ariane 5 in 2016; JCSAT-15 for SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation on an Ariane 5 in 2016; Telkom-3S for PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia, Tbk on an Ariane 5 ECA in 2016; and Hylas 4 for Avanti Communications Group plc on an Ariane 5 ECA in 2017.
SEPTEMBER LAUNCHES September 7 – Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited (AsiaSat) announced that Space Exploration Technologies Corporation successfully launched the AsiaSat 6/Thaicom 7 satellite on a Falcon 9 launch vehicle. Manufactured by Space Systems/Loral LLC based on its SSL 1300 satellite platform, the satellite will provide a range of video distribution and broadband services from the 120°E orbital location. September 11 – Arianespace S.A. successfully launched the MEASAT-3b and Optus 10 satellites for MEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn. Bhd and SingTel Optus Pty Limited, respectively, on an Ariane 5 launch vehicle. MEASAT-3b was manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space and will provide telecommunications and DTH services from 91.5°E. Optus 10 was manufactured by Space Systems/Loral LLC and will provide DTH, Internet, telephone and data transmission services from 164°E.
SEPTEMBER SATELLITE ORDERS September 4 – Laser Light Communications, LLC announced that it selected Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. to manufacture the first global, all-optical commercial satellite system. September 8 – Space Systems/Loral LLC announced that it was selected by Bulgaria Sat AD to manufacture and deliver in-orbit the BulgariaSat-1 satellite based on the SSL 1300 satellite platform. BulgariaSat-1 will be equipped with 32 Ku-band transponders and will provide DTH and fixed satellite services to customers in the Balkans and other European regions. September 8 – Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO) announced that it was selected by Qatar Satellite Company (Es'hailSat) to manufacture and deliver the Es'hail 2 satellite, Es'hailSat's first fully-owned satellite, based on MELCO's DS2000 satellite platform. Es'hail 2 will provide DTH services to users across the Middle East and North Africa, as well as communications services to the Government of Qatar, from the 26°E orbital location. September 10 – Boeing Space & Intelligence Systems (Boeing) announced that it was selected by HySpeq IQ, LLC to manufacture two satellites based on Boeing's 502 Phoenix smallsatellite platform, marking the first commercial order for the 502 Phoenix.
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