The administrators for the bankrupt Australian satellite operator NewSat LLC have found a buyer for its assets. The Australian firm Speedcast has taken over the NewSat’s teleport facilities in Adelaide and Perth for only Aus$12 million in what is being described as a “fire sale”. Some 20 employees of NewSat have had their jobs saved as a result. The part completed Jabiru-1 satellite remains unsold however, and is still at its manufacturer Lockheed Martin. Similarly the “asset” of the satellite’s launch booking on Ariane 5 has also not been sold.
The Malaysian satellite operator, Measat, who originally planned to use the communications payload of Jabiru-1 with NewSat, reportedly failed to buy the satellite despite offering upto US$250 million.
Update: While Measat hopes to eventually buy Jabiru-1, of more immediate interest was the fate of the US$115 million launch booking on an Ariane 5 ECA. The 1 August 2015 deadline set by a Delaware court has now passed for Measat to acquire this, and this contracted booking will now be returned to Arianespace.
