In the News

October 2020

 

“The industry got a lucky break this year with the C-band orders,” said Chris Quilty, president of Quilty Analytics.

The market for commercial geostationary communications satellites was already in flux prior to the pandemic due to technological innovation and new satellite communications constellations.

 

That infusion is probably insufficient for Steckel’s first job of completing the constellation. Each satellite costs $1 million to build, while research firm Quilty Analytics estimates the price of each launch at roughly $1.5 million. Just getting the rest of its satellites into orbit could therefore set OneWeb back up to $1.4 billion, not including the cost of its ground operations. The UK government is unlikely to invest more, according to two people familiar with the matter, though outside investors may inject fresh equity.