[Satellite News 03-02-09] Despite Mitsubishi Electric Corp.’s ambitious international growth plans, the company said it has set modest goals affected by the global economic climate, Hiroyuki Inahata, group vice president and general manager of Mitsubishi’s space systems division, told Satellite News.
    “I understand that satellite operators are in a tough time, which may make them forced to scale-down or postpone their plans,” said Inahata. “Nevertheless, the current market size of commercial satellite procurement is about 20 perc year, and I trust it will not shrink drastically this year. Mitsubishi’s target is to get a new contract for at least one satellite per year. As Mitsubishi has been always active in space programs for the Japanese government, I am confident that our business will continue without being affected much. I hope that the market will be revitalized as soon as possible.”
    Mitsubishi hopes a $136.5 million contact signed with SingTel in late 2008 to build the ST-2 satellite will be the catalyst for an improved performance in the international arena. Inhata emphasized that the deal to manufacture the ST-2 satellite for SingTel and Chunghwa Telecom also had huge significance for the company. “Since in-orbit heritage is regarded as very important in the world of commercial satellites, this has always been a challenge for us,” he said. 
    Bill Chang, SingTel’s executive vice president of business, said ST-2 was an important part of SingTel’s product development. “It enhances our ability to offer businesses such as shipping companies and direct-to-home operators a one-stop infocomm technology experience that will empower them to stay ahead of the competition. Even before its launch, more than half of ST-2’s capacity has been signed-up by regional customers,” he said.
    Mitsubishi now intends to compete more vigorously for international contracts. According to Inahata, the company’s basic policy is that Mitsubishi follow every satellite procurement plan that fits to its DS2000 geostationary satellite platform worldwide. Mitsubishi regards the Asian market as especially important.       “Regional operators in Asia generally look for small satellites. Condosat initiatives are becoming popular among our potential customers. Both of these factors make it more difficult for us to pick up more business. However, we are expanding our line-up in terms of platform sizes and will respond to our customer needs, as we want to have more of a presence in the region.”
    Mitsubishi’s prospects beyond the Asian region are also ambitious, with goals to improve its position among U.S. and European manufacturers as a satellite system supplier. “It is very important for Mitsubishi to continue to improve our ability to secure satisfactory delivery schedules and low costs for our customers. It is also necessary that Mitsubishi should always respond to the requirement for continuously improving communication payloads,” said Inahata.