Sea Launch is sinking - June 30, 2009
Sea Launch, the imaginatively named company that launches rockets from the sea, says it will continue its “normal business operations” despite filing for bankruptcy last week.
The company told Satellite Today it will be almost-business-as-usual while it goes through Chapter 11 restructuring in the US.
Space.com notes that many believe Sea Launch will reappear at some point and continue chucking satellites into orbit. This is generally seen as good thing. “Having a robust pool of launch service providers is essential to the satellite industry,” says Dianne VanBeber a spokeswoman for the satellite company Intelsat.
The situation could mean trouble for Boeing, which owns a chunk of Sea Launch. A number of papers say the Chapter 11 filing could end up costing Boeing just shy of $500 million for debts it has guaranteed. Other sources say Boeing is owed another $978 million by Sea Launch itself.
Looking at the bigger picture, the bankruptcy looks like a set back for the commercial launch industry, at least in the US. As the Wall Street Journal noted last week:
The filing underscores the financial weakness of the commercial satellite launch business in the U.S. The partnership’s woes are in stark contrast to the expanding, government-supported launch operations aggressively marketed by Russia and the European launch consortium Arianespace.
Ironically, Sea Launch’s latest launch took place from the land, at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
