spacetoday.net: Business briefs: April 8

Posted: Tue, Apr 9, 2002, 11:19 AM ET (1519 GMT)

ORBIMAGE announced Monday that it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as part of a prepared restructuring plan. The commercial remote sensing company said it the filing cleared the way for a plan agreed to by the company's bondholders and shareholders to reduce the company's debt and carry out its business plan. The company says it has enough cash on hand to carry it through the launch of OrbView-3, a high-resolution imaging satellite, later this year.
SES Global, Alcatel, and Gilat Satellite Networks announced the formation of a joint venture Monday that will provide satellite broadband Internet services to Europe. The new venture, yet to be named, has over 200 million euros (US$175 million) in capital, roughly a fourth in cash. The announcement came just days after EchoStar backed away from a similar joint venture with Gilar, StarBand, serving the US.