Confusion over Spacecom satellite plans
April 30, 2018
By Chris Forrester
Spacecom, which operates the AMOS fleet of satellites from Israel, has today (April 30th) notified the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange that the Israeli state is to buy a new communications satellite from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
The worrying news is that the notification says the new satellite will be positioned at 4 degrees West, which is an ‘Amos’ position, and where Spacecom has a planned satellite – Amos 8 – on order from Space Systems/Loral.
IAI was previously a regular supplier of satellites to Spacecom, but there has been concern in government circles that the procurement of a ‘foreign’ satellite could pose a problem. This has provoked strong debate in the Israel parliament.
Spacecom lost its Amos 6 satellite in a launch-pad explosion some 18 months ago.
Spacecom is also itself up for sale, and is a subsidiary of the financially troubled Eurocom group of companies. An Israeli Court has ordered that liquidation be commenced on May 3rd.