Last night’s failure of the Proton launch of the JCSAT II satellite from Baikonur could have a serious impact on the two Nordic satellite companies.
SES has two satellites scheduled to launch on Proton this year including Sirius 4 for its Swedish subsidiary and Americom 14 in December. Meanwhile, Norwegian rival Telenor is scheduled to launch its Thor 5 craft in November, also using the Proton. The Telenor satellite is a replacement for Thor II and is not thought to have any immediate impact on communications services.
All spacecraft launches have now been postponed awaiting the findings of an official inquiry. In a statement SES said that no revenue was foreseen from the two satellites in 2007 and therefore there would be no impact on the company’s financial guidance.
