Loral Space & Communications saw revenues increase by 17 percent in the second quarter, and 22 percent for the first half of the year, the company announced Aug. 8.

For the three- and six-month periods ended June 30, 2007, total consolidated revenue for the second quarter reached $226 million, up from $193 million for the same period of 2006. For the first half of 2007, revenue totaled $447 million, up from $365 million reported for the first half of 2006.

"The satellite industry continues to demonstrate growth, both in demand for new technology on the manufacturing side and for additional and more advanced applications on the satellite services side," Loral CEO Michael Targoff said in a statement.

"Loral’s performance has been strengthening, with our satellite manufacturing business continuing to perform well, and our satellite services business reporting steady results on its well-utilized fleet.”

In the satellite manufacturing division, Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) saw satellite construction contracts boost second quarter 2007 revenues before eliminations to $210 million, or a 29 percent improvement over $163 million in the second quarter of 2006. For the first half, SS/L’s revenues totaled $411 million, up 36 percent from the similar period in 2006.

In the second quarter, SS/L both gained a contract to construct NSS-12 for SES New Skies and a delivery order from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Rapid Spacecraft Development Office (RSDO) for a Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) Spacecraft Accommodation Study.

Last week, with SS/L already involved in construction of a fifth satellite for Sirius Satellite Radio, the companies announced signing a contract for the construction of Sirius FM-6, a highly inclined elliptical orbit (HIEO) satellite. SS/L has thus far built Sirius’s entire fleet, including three in-orbit satellites and one ground spare now in storage.

Last December, Loral announced that a joint venture company formed by it and Canadian partner PSP Investments had forged a definitive agreement to acquire 100 percent of the stock of Telesat Canada from BCE Inc. for 3.25 billion Canadian dollars ($3.09 billion). Loral said this week that it expects to close the transaction during the third quarter, pending regulatory approval.