[Satellite TODAY 04-06-10] Mexican satellite service provider Satmex has made a $2 million down payment to Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) to manufacturer the Satmex 8 satellite, according to documents the company filed April 1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
    Satmex told the SEC that while it has no authority from its creditors to sign a full construction contract, the authorization to proceed would expire in June if it is not followed up by a full-scale Satmex 8 contract.
    Satmex 8, which includes 64 C- and Ku-band transponders, would replace Satmex 5 at 116.8 degrees West. According to a Satmex statement, the damaged Satmex 5 satellite must be replaced within 31 months to maintain coverage over the region after experiencing an unexpected shutdown of its primary propulsion system in January 2009.
    The total cost of the new satellite is about $350 million, with a $65 million down payment due to the manufacturer by September.
    The authorization follows EchoStar Satellite’s March termination of its $374 million stock purchase
 agreement with MVS Comunicaciones to acquire
Satmex, which would have alleviated the company’s burden of debt.
    EchoStar told the SEC that it required Satmex to solicit consent to amend its outstanding debt and waive all defaults and to enter into lockup agreements with the holders of at least
a majority of its debt within 17 days of the execution of the purchase agreement. Satmex also was asked to redeem or repurchase a sufficient percentage of its existing debt due in 2011 and 2013.
    Satmex creditors opposed the deal. “The amount of cash won’t be enough to repurchase or amortize the senior secured notes in circulation at nominal value, independent of the amount that would be assigned to Satmex shareholders,” Satmex said in a statement released March 3.
    Satmex, which is partially owned by Loral Space & Communications and the Mexican government, currently has a principal amount of about $523 million of debt in default.

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