News Analysis

World space expenditures reach ceiling of $70 billion after decade of continuous growth

Paris, March 28, 2012–Euroconsult, said that global budgets for space programs have reached a plateau of roughly $70 billion, confirming a slowdown in expansion experienced by the space industry for the last 10 years. According to Euroconsult's new report "Profiles of Government Space Programs: Analysis of 60 Countries & Agencies," Space programs received a short-term boost in recent years from several governments to counter the economic crisis. However, they must now undergo even more stringent budget constraints exemplified by the European public debt crisis and the U.S. Budget Control Act of 2011.

London, U.K., March 26, 2012--As BT and Virgin Media start to build scale in premises passed and customers sign to their superfast broadband services, some of the UK’s alternative network operators are beginning to find their niche. Although not all altnets will be successful, there are circumstances in which their varied and localised approaches look set to bring superfast broadband to individual communities that have often been struggling with access to even the most basic of broadband services.

Cambridge, Mass., March 20, 2012--NSR today released its newest market survey and forecast report: Hosted Payloads on Commercial Satellites, 2nd Edition. The report concludes that, from an estimated $106.2 million in revenues for 2012, revenues for payload equipment, engineering services and commercial satellite operator hosting services are expected to range from $330.8 million to $554.0 million by 2022, yielding cumulative revenues of $1.8 billion to $2.9 billion over an 11-year period.

Luxembourg, March 1, 2012-- Satellite operator Intelsat S.A. reported revenue of US $652.9 million and a net loss of $3.5 million for the three months ended December 31, 2011. The company also reported Intelsat S.A. EBITDAi, or earnings before net interest, loss on early extinguishment of debt, taxes and depreciation and amortization, of $495.5 million, and Intelsat S.A. Adjusted EBITDAi of $514.6 million, or 79 percent of revenue, for the three months ended December 31, 2011.

Dublin, Ireland, March 1, 2012--The Global Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) market wiill grow at A CAGR Of 9.33 percent over the 2012-2014 period according to a new Research and Markets report entitled ""Global Mobile Satellite Services Market 2011-2014."    One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is demand of data services. The Global MSS market has also been witnessing increasing investment in satellite programs. However, the migration of subscribers to other services and decreasing profit could pose a challenge to the growth of this market.

Key vendors dominating this market space include Inmarsat, Iridium, Globalstar, Thuraya and ORBCOMM.

Berlin, Germany, February 23, 2012--Several satellite industry assications repeated  its grave concerns over the proposed UNIDROIT Space Assets Protocol. Delegates of UNIDROIT and its member states will convene on February 27 in Berlin, Germany, for the Diplomatic Conference on the Draft Space Assets Protocol to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment, the European Satellite Operators’ Association, the Satellite Industry Association of Washington, D.C., the Space Industry Association of Australia and the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia today urged delegates and Member States to defer any consideration of the Protocol due to an absence of support from the global satellite industry.

Geneva, Switzerland, February 17, 2012--The World Radiocommunication Conference 2012 (WRC-12)  concluded its deliberations today with the signing of the Final Acts that revise the Radio Regulations, the international treaty governing the use of radio-frequency spectrum and satellite orbits.Over 3000 participants, representing 165 out of ITU’s 193 Member States attended the four-week Conference, braving the extreme winter conditions prevailing in Geneva. Over 100 Observers from among ITU’s 700 private sector members along with international organizations also attended WRC-12.

Luxembourg, February 17, 2012—Satelltie operator SES reported an increase in recurring revenue and EBITDA increasing by 2.8% and 3.1%, respectively. Reported revenue remained essentially flat, with reported EBITDA decreasing slightly, due to the adverse evolution of the USD against the euro (average conversion rate in 2011 was 1.4035 compared to 1.3294 in 2010). Reported EBITDA also reflected the impact of the one-time reorganisation charge of  EUR 14.8 million.