18th May 2015 06:47
LONDON (Alliance News) - Satellite communications service provider Inmarsat PLC said Monday it is suspending its guidance of a 8 to 12% compound annual growth rate in revenue from wholesale mobile satellite services over 2014 to 2016, as the launch of its third Global Xpress satellite I-5 F3 has been delayed by the failure of a related satellite.
The delay is due to a failure to launch the Proton Breeze M rocket carrying the Centenario satellite on Saturday. According to Inmarsat's launch partner International Launch Services, the rocket suffered a "disabling anomaly" after lift-off, leading to the loss of the satellite and the rocket.
Inmarsat called the failed launch "extremely unfortunate", and warned that the delay is expected to have a "small negative effect on 2015 revenue and earnings." The hit from the delay in subsequent years cannot currently be determined, Inmarsat said.
However, its medium-term expectation for Global Xpress to deliver no less than USD500 million in additional revenues by the fifth anniversary of the global launch of Global Xpress services is unchanged by the delay, the company said.
Inmarsat said this is the third time its Global Xpress programme has been delayed due to Proton rocket launch failures, and it will not be possible to determine how long the delay will be until the cause of the launch failure has been established.
"Customers are understandably anxious to see the delivery of GX services on a global basis, and as soon as we have sufficient information to ascertain the new launch date for I-5 F3, we will make the information public, as well as comment further on the impact of the delayed launch of I-5 F3," Chief Executive Officer Rupert Pearce said in a statement.
Inmarsat said that the I-5 F2 satellite is currently under construction and remains on schedule to be completed in mid-2016.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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