spacetoday.net: Avanti secures financing for second satellite

Posted: Tue, Dec 22, 2009, 4:27 PM ET (2127 GMT)
New British satellite operator Avanti announced Monday that it had secured a combination of financing and loan guarantees that will allow the company to move forward with its second satellite. Avanti said it raised £86 million (US$138 million) from new and existing investors, and also secured £194 million (US$310 million) in loan guarantees from the Export-Import Bank in the US and Coface in France for its second satellite, Hylas 2. Avanti immediately announced that it was ordering the satellite from Orbital Sciences Corporation and would launch it through Arianespace on either an Ariane 5 or Soyuz. Avanti's first satellite is scheduled for launch next year to provide Ka-band broadband services in Europe; Hylas 2, scheduled for launch in the first half of 2012, will provide additional coverage of Europe as well as portions of the Middle East and Africa.