The Space and Satellite business segment of JSAT recorded revenue of JPY54.6 billion (US$480 million) – an increase of 2.3 per cent. Operating Income/EBIT for the space and satellite business was JPY18.6 billion (US$164 million), representing an increase 4.4 per cent up over the year before.
The space and satellite segment reported a JPY1.5 billion (US$13.2 million) fall in revenues from Standard Definition (SD) transponders albeit with a JPY0.4 billion (US$3.5 million) increase in High Definition (HD) and Ultra HD (UHD) transponder revenues.
The factor driving the overall space revenue increase was not television broadcasting, but is instead the government contract for the provision of emergency satellite communications facilities for a number of institutions across Japan including, hospitals, universities and airports. This showed an increase in sales worth JPY2.0 billion (US$17.6 million).
The group reported consolidated revenue of JPY163 billion (US$1.43 billion) representing a slight revenue decrease of 0.2 per cent compared to the previous year. This is a 0.7 per cent revenue decrease when viewed at Constant FX.
More recently, during Q1 FY 2016 (May 2016), it was announced that JSAT had entered into an agreement with GoGo, a global provider of broadband and wireless entertainment to the airline industry, to provide Ku-band capacity over Japan. JCSAT-5A will be used to provide this coverage.
A separate deal was made with GoGo involving the provision of Ku-band capacity over the Pacific Ocean utilising the recently launched (6 May 2016) JCSAT-14.