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Satellite companies win stimulus funds
Colorado satellite companies WildBlue Communications and EchoStar XI have won nearly $34 million in federal stimulus money to supply satellite Internet access to rural areas.
The federal government awarded Greenwood Village-based WildBlue Communications $19.5 million to supply satellite broadband access to an estimated 110,000 people and 4,800 businesses scattered across the western half of the country. WildBlue is a subsidiary of ViaSat Inc., which is based in Carlsbad, Calif.
Douglas County-based EchoStar XI Operating LLC an off-shoot of the satellite broadcaster won nearly $14.2 million. It plans to offer satellite Internet to rural areas in the eastern half of the United States, covering an estimated 42,478 people and nearly 1,900 businesses.
The White House announced $1.8 billion worth of broadband stimulus awards Wednesday.
The satellite project funding was awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service broadband stimulus program.
The government dedicated $7.2 billion from the federal stimulus program to expand the reach of high-speed Internet in parts of the United States considered underserved by the technology. Most of those areas are outside metropolitan areas.
The program also sought to boost Internet capacity among U.S. schools, libraries, hospitals and other community institutions.
The satellite broadband stimulus funding is limited to projects serving rural areas where no fiber-optic or cable TV broadband is offered, and mainly in areas where government-assisted wireless Internet providers such as Greenwood Village-based Open Range Communications don’t operate.
WildBlue’s plan to expand services is to offer new customers in eligible areas free hardware and installation for its broadband service, then offer monthly rates at a significant discount to its usual service.
The RUS awards Wednesday also added a competitive wrinkle for the satellite providers. The RUS awarded $58.7 million to Germantown Md.-based Hughes Network Systems for discounted satellite broadband it can offer unserved rural customers nationwide.
That creates the possibility of WildBlue and EchoStar XI facing competition from Hughes for customers wanting services discounted with stimulus funding.
Sea Launch post-bankruptcy plan wins court approval
A Delaware bankruptcy court confirmed Sea Launch’s plan to reorganize under majority Russian ownership, clearing a key hurdle on the firm’s path to emerge from bankruptcy later this year.
The milestone ruling came 13 months after Sea Launch filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2009.
The plan calls for Energia Overseas Ltd., a subsidiary of the Russian aerospace giant Energia, to purchase 85 percent of the stock in Sea Launch for $140 million in cash. The unsecured creditors, or firms that acquired a stake in Sea Launch in exchange for owed debts, will collectively hold 15 percent ownership in the reorganized launch business.
The previous Sea Launch ownership coalition was led by Boeing Co. with a 40 percent share. Energia, Aker of Norway, and Yuzhnoye and Yuzhmash of Ukraine held smaller shares.
The California-based firm’s Land Launch subsidiary conducted four Zenit flights since 2008 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
While the company’s reorganization plan has been stuck in litigation, Sea Launch has bulked up its launch backlog with new contracts for commercial satellite missions.
Earlier this month, Sea Launch announced a firm contract for delivery of an AsiaSat communications satellite to orbit between 2012 and 2014.
Last week, the launch provider signed an agreement with EchoStar Satellite Services to loft up to three spacecraft for the U.S.-based operator.
Sea Launch’s backlog now includes four firm contracts, including the AsiaSat deal, an Intelsat satellite launch, and agreements for two flights with Eutelsat payloads. The manifest doesn’t include unannounced contracts or the conditional EchoStar agreement.
Energia Overseas also committed $200 million in working capital to facilitate hardware purchases from suppliers in the United States, Russia and Ukraine.
Boeing Co. builds the payload fairing for Sea Launch’s Zenit 3SL rocket, Energia provides the Block DM upper stage, while Yuzhnoye and Yuzhmash of Ukraine are in charge of manufacturing the Zenit’s first and second stages.
CapRock Government Solutions has been awarded four multimillion dollar contracts
CapRock Government Solutions announced it has been awarded four multimillion dollar contracts to provide managed network services and more than 400MHz of commercial satellite capacity to four separate U.S. Government agencies. The contracts run through 2013 and include requirements for bandwidth, teleport and backhaul services on Ku and X-band networks.
Services provided by CapRock will be used to support a range of missions including airborne intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), tactical field-deployed communications and continuity of operations. CapRock leveraged strategic relationships with key fleet operators: EchoStar Satellite Services L.L.C.; Eutelsat; Paradigm Secure Communications; and SES World Skies, to secure necessary space segment for the contracts.
CapRock manages a network of 4GHz of capacity on 63 satellites and operates four self-owned teleports in North and South America, Europe, and Asia. To support the global operations of its clients, the company runs eleven regional support centers and four Network Operations Centers in different parts of the world. Additionally, CapRock has taken steps to develop network solutions with military-grade features that have grown increasingly important to users within the Department of Defense and Federal Civilian agencies.
CapRock offers its comprehensive value-added products and services under a variety of contract vehicles including all four current satellite services contracts (DSTS-G, GSA, INMARSAT and SATCOM-II) that will eventually fold into the upcoming Future Commercial Satcom Acquisition (FCSA) program.