Final Contract for Spacecom's Amos-3 Satellite Expected Soon

摘要

Fueled by funding secured on the local stock exchange, Israel's Spacecom Ltd. has authorized government-owned Israel Aircraft Industries Ltd. (IAI) to begin building its next telecommunications satellite, the Amos-3, planned for launch by the end of 2007. Spacecom, operator of the Amos-1 and Amos-2 satellites, signed a memorandum of understanding Feb. 24 with IAI for construction of Amos-3. Executives from both firms expect a formal contract for the estimated $130 million satellite to be concluded in the coming weeks. In the meantime, IAI's MBT Space Division is finalizing arrangements with its team of subcontractors and suppliers and proceeding with initial pre-production work begun last year. "We've been involved in very low-flame, low-obligation, pre-production work for some months now, and we anticipate a formal contract to be signed in the next few weeks," Doron Suslik, IAI deputy corporate vice president for communications, told Space News March 29.