Three companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2009: In June it was Sea Launch, reporting assets of between $100 million and $500 million and estimated debt of almost $2 billion. In November, Sea Launch secured financing for continued operations and just two weeks later successfully launched the Intelsat 15 satellite from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan. In May, DBSD North America, formerly known as ICO North America, a subsidiary of ICO Global Communications, filed claiming assets totaling about $630 million as of March 31 and outstanding debt of about $813 million. Then in July Asian satellite operator ProtoStar filed for bankruptcy. Intelsat won the bidding for the ProtoStar 1 satellite in October with a $210 million offer. The ProtoStar 2 satellite went to SES during a December auction for $185 million.

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