After four years since it was launched in 2011, contact with the Israeli communications satellite Amos 5 was lost at 06:45 on Saturday, Israel time. Satellite operator Spacecom Satellite Communications Ltd announced on Saturday. Customers, mainly in African countries, are no longer receiving service.
Spacecom said it had been unable to reestablish contact with the satellite and had not yet isolated the cause of the problem. Israeli media report that industry experts described the total loss of contact with the satellite as uncommon event.
Amos 5 coverage Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Loss of contact with Amos 5 means the loss of about a third of Spacecom’s revenue. Eurocom Group owns 64.5 percent of Spacecom.
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Spacecom said in a statement “The Company wishes to clarify, based on the preliminary examinations it carried out, that even if there will be a ‘total loss’ (complete failure) of the satellite, this would have a negligible effect on the equity of the company.”
Globes reports that Amos 6 satellite, for which Spacecom has already signed a $1 billion contract with Facebook, is due to be launched only in February next year. Capital market sources estimate that it will take about three years to launch a replacement satellite for Amos 5, Globes said.
The first four Amos satellites were built in Israel by the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), while Amos 5 satellite was built by Russian manufacturer .
Amos 5, had an annual revenue of about $40 million with value of between $160 million and $190 million. The lost comes as Eurocom is in the process of selling Spacecom, which has been valued at $283.7 million.
