Eutelsat Orders All-electric Sat; Pledges To Limit Capital Spending

摘要

Satellite fleet operator Eutelsat on July 31 promised investors that it would reduce its spending on new satellites and launch vehicles in the next three years by ratcheting up pressure on suppliers. In a conference call, Eutelsat officials said capital investment for each of the coming three years would be capped at 500 million euros ($675 million) against 600 million euros on average previously. The Paris-based company, which is the world's third-largest fixed satellite services operator when measured by revenue, specifically said it would adopt all-electric satellites as a way of cutting per-transponder launch costs and would use Space Exploration Technologies Corp. to spur competition with Europe's Arianespace launch service provider in pursuit of lower costs. Evry, France-based Arianespace, for which Eutelsat has been the biggest commercial customer over the years, has already promised to reduce the cost of launching the smaller satellites that fit in the lower position of its heavy-lift Ariane 5 rocket, which typically launches two commercial satellites at a time.