Israeli operator Spacecom is already considering a range of financing methods to support the Amos-6 bird it plans to launch in 2014, according to VP for business development Omri Arnon.
The company’s search for around US$200m in financing is being…
Israeli operator Spacecom is already considering a range of financing methods to support the Amos-6 bird it plans to launch in 2014, according to VP for business development Omri Arnon.
The company’s search for around US$200m in financing is being conducted alongside an RFP to secure the bird’s manufacturer.
Speaking to SatelliteFinance in Paris on 14 September, Arnon revealed interest for this manufacturing contract is coming from Europe, the US and Israel, and he expects to finalise a partner early next year.
“We are dealing with the financing early in the satellite’s construction phases as this should provide us with greater flexibility as we proceed further into the future,” he explained.
“One aspect of concurrent financing and bidding is that it provides us the potential to see our financing backed by an Export Credit Agency of the country in which the manufacturing takes place. This, of course, depends on whom we choose as the manufacturer.”
The upcoming satellite will be launched to Spacecom’s 4W ‘hotspot’, where it will join Amos-2 and Amos-3, to provide broadband services to enterprise and consumer customers in Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Israel with a bridge to the US East Coast.
Arnon said: “Amos-6 will add capabilities and capacity over these core markets with a full range of Ku-band, Ka-band, and C-band. We believe that these capabilities will provide the answers we need to meet shifts in the broadband market and requirements for a broadband Ka payload for existing and new customers.”
So far, Spacecom has only used Israeli banks to finance its satellite programmes, but the regional operator is not averse to foreign banks, and Arnon has previously said he would be keen to work with them if they were competitive.
In addition, for the construction of Amos-5, which was supported by US$140m in loans secured with Israeli funds Migdal and Amitim in 2009, Spacecom strayed away from its usual manufacturer, Israeli Aerospace Industries, in favour of a low cost offer from Russian firm ISS-Reshetnev.