Arabsat capacity deal with Telesat
March 7, 2014
By Chris Forrester
Canada-based Telesat have entered into a “strategic commercial agreement” with Arabsat. The deal sees Telesat take a “lifetime” major Ku-band payload on Arabsat-owned Hellas-sat 4 which is currently being procured. Hellas-sat 4 will be ordered this summer and launched in 2017.
What the deal means is that Telesat gets access to a powerful new satellite that covers Europe and the Mediterranean region, operating from 39 degrees East. Telesat operates the Telstar, Nimiq and Anik constellations of satellites.
Arabsat is already planning to expand its fleet by three new high-power ‘6th Generation’ satellites, and will expand that order to include the new Hellas-sat craft.
Arabsat CEO Khalid Balkhyour said in a statement: “This commercial agreement with Telesat reflects the lasting cooperation between two leading satellite operators and will further establish Hellas-Sat as a leading service provider in Europe.
Telesat of Canada is owned by Loral Space & Communications and Canadian pension funds, and they are looking to sell the asset but as yet no buyer has emerged. Earlier this week it was reported that Loral had hired investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners to advise on potential sale options.