Intelsat Vies for position over Russia - Consolidates Control of Horizons Venture

Satellite fleet operator Intelsat has renegotiated its two-satellite Horizons joint venture with SkyPerfect JSat Corp. of Japan to put it more firmly under Intelsat’s control and permit a Horizons spacecraft to be moved from a slot covering North America to one serving the faster-growing Russian market, Intelsat said Nov. 8.

Launched in December 2007 into position at 74 degrees west longitude, the Horizons-2 satellite will be drifted to a slot at 85 degrees east in the coming weeks as Intelsat debuts a new business from that location.

The anchor customer for the new location is Orion Express LLC of Russia, which has signed a multiyear, multitransponder lease of Horizons-2 capacity with Intelsat.

Luxembourg-and Washington-based Intelsat said that in the three months ending Sept. 30 it added $88.8 million to its contract backlog following the Orion contract and the decision to consolidate the Horizons joint venture into its financial accounts.

The North American market is stable for satellite fleet operators such as Intelsat but it is forecasted to grow very little in the coming years. Emerging markets, including Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and South and Central Asia are now the fastest-growing markets.

As they look to capitalize on this growth, satellite operators with large fleets have at least some ability to move existing spacecraft into orbital slots in the higher-growth areas. This is what Intelsat is doing with Horizons-2.