spacetoday.net: Intelsat wins auction for Loral satellites

Posted: Mon, Oct 20, 2003, 7:15 PM ET (2315 GMT)

Loral has selected Intelsat as the winner of an auction to purchase five of Loral's North American communications satellites, the two companies announced late Monday. Loral said it accepted a bid of $1.1 billion from Intelsat for the Telstar 5, 6, 7, and 13 satellites, which currently serve North America, as well as Telstar 8, another North American satellite scheduled for launch next year. In July Loral announced a deal to sell those satellites, as well as Telstar 4, which failed in orbit last month, to Intelsat for approximately $1 billion. An auction was required, though, because satellite TV company Echostar has submitted a competing bid for the spacecraft. The deal must still be approved by the judge overseeing Loral's Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection case; the judge is expected to rule on the sale on Wednesday. The deal gives Loral a much-needed injection of cash to help it pay off its debts, and also gives Intelsat a desired foothold into the North American market.