Ex Im Bank Backed Satellite Export to Luxembourg Will Provide Broadcast Services to Mexico Create Hundreds of New U S Jobs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 13, 2010
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WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Export-Import Bank of the United States has approved a $171.5 million direct loan to support the export of a Ku-band broadcast satellite by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) of Palo Alto, Calif., to SES S.A. of Chateau de Betzdorf, Luxembourg.
The Ex-Im Bank financing also will cover launch insurance from AON Corporation, Chicago, Ill.

Financing from Ex-Im Bank helps enable our customers to move forward with their vision of extending communications infrastructure around the world, said John Celli, president of Space Systems/Loral. It means hundreds of new jobs at our Palo Alto, Calif. manufacturing facility.
Artist's
Float Artist's rendering of the QuetzSat-1 satellite. (Image courtesy Space Systems/Loral)
32-transponder
Workers at the Space Systems/Loral Palo Alto, Calif. facility assembling the 32-transponder QuetzSat-1 satellite. Ex-Im Bank approved a $171.5 million direct loan to support the export of the Ku-band broadcast satellite to SES S.A. of Luxembourg. SES will lease the entire capacity of the satellite to a subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation, which in turn is expected to provide direct-to-home broadcast satellite TV services for the ultimate end-user, Dish Mexico.
(Photo courtesy Space Systems/Loral)

SES will lease the entire capacity of the 32-transponder QuetzSat-1 satellite to a subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation, which in turn is expected to provide direct-to-home broadcast satellite TV services for the ultimate end-user, Dish Mexico. It is further expected that EchoStar will provide capacity on QuetzSat-1 to DISH Network Corporation for use in connection with its U.S. DTH business.

Celli said the ability to provide Ex-Im Bank credit helps us better compete against large government-supported overseas manufacturers that vie for the same business. He said SS/L is one of the only large international aerospace companies that does not rely on government contracts for its business.

Financing high-technology American exports promotes communications infrastructure growth in dynamic markets like Mexico, said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. This export also opens up potential follow-on business for U.S. exporters, and helps create and maintain U.S. jobs.

It is Ex-Im Bank's first transaction with SES, a leading fixed satellite service provider with a global fleet of 44 satellites reaching 99 percent of the world's population. The QuetzSat-1 satellite also could provide services to Central America, the Caribbean and the continental United States if needed.

Ex-Im Bank, an independent, self-sustaining federal agency, helps create and maintain U.S. jobs by filling gaps in export financing and strengthening U.S. export competitiveness.

In fiscal year 2010, the Bank posted its second consecutive record-breaking year, including preliminary figures of $24.5 billion in export financing, which supported $34.4 billion worth of American exports and 227,000 American jobs at more than 3,300 U.S. companies. Of these authorizations, more than $5 billion was for small businesses - another record for the Bank.