In 1996 Orion took out a long term loan for $218,237,00 (bringing total indebtedness of Orion [non-recourse to LOR] of $$790,561,000 (page 84 of Loral/Orion merger prospectus). At the time it owned one GEOsat (Orion 1), and had contracted with Marconi for Orion 2 (since rescinded and now at SSL). Orion 2 will serve Europe and Latin America. In January 1997 it contracted with Hughes for Orion 3 (page 32 of same prospectus).
I get the impression from all this that the loan for $218,237,000 in 1996 was in part to pay Hughes for Orion 3 since the $790 million number sort of adds up to the cost of three GEOsats and more. Inclines me, for that reason, to believe Hughes was paid in full for Orion 3 before it was to be transferred to Loral's ownership.
I can't see a debt load of $790 million for Orion without 3 big GEOs figuring into the total. A Hawaii port, a number of ground stations, plus one GEOsat, or even two, do not amount to $790 million. If I am correct, the Orion 3, at a cost of $170 million or so to build, plus the launch cost of some $55-60 million (pure guess) gets you to a number some $30 million short of the total insurance. Sometimes satellites are insured with a margin, and if so, that would explain the $30 million extra in the insurance number. |
