The U.S. Government Accountability Office has sided with Intelsat’s protest of a multi-year U.S. Defense Department satellite bandwidth-provision contract award to competitor Inmarsat of London, a decision that apparently will at least suspend the award and may force a new competition.
Two commercial satellite operators, Intelsat of Luxembourg and Japan-based Sky Perfect JSAT, have committed future spacecraft to launching on Ariane 5 rockets, European launch provider Arianespace said Jan. 4.
Inmarsat announces it was moving the long-delayed launch of a satellite to provide aeronautical broadband services from SpaceX to Arianespace.
Satellite fleet operators Inmarsat, Intelsat, SES and Eutelsat all say the long-awaited rebound in U.S. government demand for bandwidth now looks to be underway.
