The importance of the launch sector to the growth of the global satellite communications industry was highlighted in 2007, as two of the three major providers suffered failures, forcing some operators to adjust their launch plans or delay some key business plans. Via Satellite takes a closer look at the industry developments that shaped business endeavors in 2007.

Commercial Launch Activity

The number of commercial launches reached a low ebb in 2007, with only 11 missions attempted, down from 15 in 2006 and the lowest figure in the last 12 years. The following chart is a measure of the number of launches attempted during the year by the three largest providers of commercial satellite launches.
France’s Arianespace performed 55 percent of all attempted missions in 2007, with six Ariane 5 missions placing a total of 12 satellites in orbit, including Intelsat’s Galaxy 17 and Intelsat 11, Astra 1L for SES Astra, Optus D2 for Australia’s Optus Networks Pty. and Spaceway 3 for Hughes as well as Skynet 5A and Skynet 5B for the British Ministry of Defence.
Both International Launch Services (ILS) and Sea Launch, with respectively four and one attempted launches, suffered failures in 2007 which resulted in periods of launch inactivity for both service providers during the year. These failures meant some satellite operators had to scramble to gain access to space during 2007.
In 2006, all three major providers performed five missions apiece.

Commercial In-orbit Activity

The major news in the fixed satellite services arena in 2007 was the closure of the Loral Skynet and Telesat merger in October. The deal creates the fourth largest satellite operator around the globe with a market share of around 5 percent. Eutelsat, the third-largest operator, holds close to a 7 percent share of in-orbit satellites, down from more than 9 percent in 2006.
These two operators do not have many rivals threatening to take their position, but combined, Eutelsat and Telesat have around 11 percent market share, far behind SES or Intelsat, the world’s largest operators, which combine to hold around 36 percent of total market share.
Regional and other operators still combine for more than 50 percent of the overall non-low-Earth orbit commercial communications satellites in orbit, and while there are obstacles to be cleared, many observers still see plenty of room for future consolidation among these numerous smaller players.

Commercial Manufacturing Activity

Orders for commercial geostationary communications satellites fell from 23 in 2006 to 20 in 2007. This was the first decline in satellite orders since 2004, which may imply that 2006 is peak for this particular cycle of satellite orders.
The interesting factor in 2007 is the strong performance of Orbital Sciences, which along with Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) and EADS Astrium, gained the most orders with five apiece. Overall, Orbital, SS/L and EADS Astrium dominated the market with a combined 75 percent share of new orders.
This was a major jump for Orbital, which won a single order in 2006. Among the company’s orders was a deal from SES Americom for a pair of satellites in a contract that includes options for three more spacecraft as well as a contract from Optus Networks for the third satellite that Orbital will manufacture for the Australian operator.
Among SS/L’s wins were contracts from Intelsat, SES New Skies, Echostar and Sirius, while EADS Astrium captured orders from Inmarsat, Arabsat and Yahsat.
Thales Alenia Space gained three orders in 2007, down from five in 2006. Boeing Satellite Systems, which returned to the commercial market in 2006 with a contract from Mobile Satellite Ventures, failed to capture any commercial satellite contract sin 2007. Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems captured a single order in 2007.

VSAT

The worldwide enterprise VSAT market continues to see solid growth, which echoes the trend of recent years. The latest figures indicate that there are now close to 800 worldwide enterprise VSAT sites in service, a figure that nearly has doubled throughout the last six years. The market is projected to grow further throughout the next few years, with forecasts suggesting there will be nearly 1,200 sites by 2010.
Demand for VSAT services is being fueled by growing demand for broadband services as well as a drop in equipment costs, which makes these services more attractive and good news for players such as Hughes and Gilat Satellite Networks.

BROADBAND

Satellite broadband to the consumer is a relatively new market, with players such as Hughes, WildBlue and Thaicom the early leaders. Strong demand for broadband in remote and rural areas is fueling this potential market. WildBlue has seen impressive subscriber growth, adding about 80,000 net subscribers in the 2007 second quarter, the strongest quarter performance by any operator to date. Thaicom had a relatively slow start in Asia and is adding just less than 10,000 subscribers a quarter.