SPECIAL EDITION – THE TOP-10 SPACE BUSINESS STORIES OF
2012
#1 – All-Electric Satellites Take Charge
Electric propulsion satellites - a new trend? Asia
Broadcast Satellite Holdings Ltd. and
Satélites Mexicanos, S.A. de C.V.
jointly procured from Boeing a total of 4
new 702 SP satellites, featuring an
all-electric xenon-ion propulsion system, and SES
S.A. and the European Space
Agency (ESA) formed a partnership to develop a
European all-electric propulsion satellite platform, with
OHBSystem AG serving as prime
contractor.
#2 – Launch Services Ups and Downs
24 commercial satellite launch missions:
Arianespace rolled on: ASTRA 2F, EchoStar
XVII, EUTELSAT 21B, Galileo IOV-1 (2 satellites), GSAT-10, HYLAS 2,
Intelsat 20, JCSAT-13, Mexsat Bicentenario, MSG-3, Skynet 5D, Star
One C3 and VINASAT-2; China Great Wall Industry
Corporation: Chinasat 12/SupremeSAT 1 and VesselSat
2; ILS International Launch Services:
EchoStar XVI, Intelsat 22, Intelsat 23, Nimiq 6,