>> Do you know of any way that I can find what the going rate is for a geosynchronous position?<<
David,
After pursuing this a little, I found the best answer to be..." I can't tell you".
Here's what I can tell you:
1. As you can figure, there's lotsa space up there when you have a circle that has a radius of 22,000+8000 (diameter of the earth) miles, if I correctly remember my math; c=2PI x r or circumfrence= 2 x 3.14 x 30000=188,400 Miles (wow! that's the speed of light/second).
2. The folks give a a bit of space on either side of a satellite to minimize interference, but I couldn't find how much.
3. Slots are not infinite based on #2, but demand is based on where the slot is located. For instance, over the U.S., the demand tends to be high since we're high on the technology scale.
4. Where demand is high, the controlling agency (FCC over the U.S.) will sometimes auction the slots that are available. MCI paid approximately 3/4 of a BILLION dollars for a slot. My marketeers think that was the highest price that they've seen.
5. If the slot is not being demanded by several different entities, then a company needs only to go through legal fillings. At best, we guessed it to be around half million max cost.
6. A company cannot sell a slot that they've gained rights to. The controlling agency monitors the company having the rights. If progress is not being made (effort) they apparently can pull the license. I take that to mean that a group should show progress in purchasing a satellite and securing a launch vehicle. I've checked our manifest, I can't find them riding on us, but there are other option out there besides us, i.e. MacDonnell Douglas' Delta, Arianne, Chinese Long March etc.
The controlling agency for non US slots is the Intenational Telecommunications Union. I've not had the opportunity to search for a Web site for that group.
Sorry, that's the best I can do on this question to this point.
Jim |
