Finance

by Nick Mitsis As the CEO of Arianespace, Jean-Yves Le Gall shepherded the European launch services company in 2005 through one of the most challenging periods it has faced since its inception 25 years ago. Arianespace entered 2005 at its lowest point and ended the year on a significant high note, all while building its...

By Nick Mitsis and Jason Bates In a year dominated by IPOs and high-profile mergers, it is easy to characterize 2005 as a year of beginnings instead of a year of accomplishments. True, those business ventures that grabbed daily headlines are signs of greater things to come, but some significant events will indeed hallmark 2005,...

By Nick Mitsis With new management entering the communications satellite industry, business is centering more on exploiting its current assets and less on introducing new hardware. Once again, Via Satellite takes a closer look at the industry developments that shaped business endeavors in 2004. Allowing the numbers to tell the tale, the research results, along...

By Nick Mitsis As we were going to press, the two largest U.S. military contractors, Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp., announced the formation of a joint venture, United Launch Alliance, which combines their once competitive rockets into one family to provide launch services for the U.S. Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space...

By Julie Blondeau An atmosphere of stiff competition remains overhead as global launch service providers continue to race against time and win as many contracts as possible in today’s lackluster market. More importantly, however, each of the players is now more focused on customer satisfaction than ever before. There is no room for error in...

by Owen D. Kurtin The re-election of President George W. Bush means that a continued heightened governmental focus on the security aspects of the satellite business to the potential detriment of commercial considerations may be expected. The principal flashpoint for security and commerce issues is technology exports. The commercial health of the satellite manufacturing and...

by Nick Mitsis Even though increased business applications have emerged within key markets for executives in the global satellite communications industry, the operational side of the satellite arena is slated to remain the same for the near term. From satellite operators and spacecraft manufacturers to the launch service providers, the trends of 2004 will likely...

After years of economic malaise, stalled business plans and a lackluster air enveloping the global commercial satellite industry environment, executives began to gain momentum as the economy strengthened, and business began churning again within the boardrooms. One of the most important shifts toward positive business in 2003 came from the return of the financial market...

By Kelly Holder Back in the 1990s money, along with champagne, was flowing through the halls of launch vehicle companies and the global satellite industry at large. Times were good. Those years experienced a significant increase in the number of commercial launches and everyone hoped it would last. This flow of steady business propelled the...

by Chris Mecray The summer of 2003 was clearly tough for the global space market, as commercial players struggled to hold on until some semblance of a recovery kicks in–and faces are turning a disturbing shade of blue. While Europe started off the summer on an improving note with a restructuring of its rocket’s program...