spacetoday.net: MSV signs launch contracts with ILS, Sea Launch

Posted: Tue, May 15, 2007, 8:52 PM ET (0052 GMT)
Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV) announced Tuesday that it has signed launch contracts with two companies for the launch of two high-power communications satellites at the end of this decade. MSV signed one contract with International Launch Services (ILS) for the 2009 launch of its first satellite on a Proton, and a separate deal with Sea Launch for a 2010 launch of its second satellite on a Zenit-3SL. The ILS contract also includes an option for a second launch. MSV plans to use the two satellites, Boeing GEO-Mobile models, to provide high-speed communications throughout North America. Terms of the contract were not announced in the press releases, as is customary, but MSV's parent company, SkyTerra Communications, disclosed in an SEC filing that it will pay $89 million for the Proton launch and $86 million for the Zenit-3SL launch.