Sea Launch Back From the Brink With Russian Funding

Russian Relaunch: Rocket business hopes to take off after bankruptcy
Los Angeles Business Journal

Sea Launch Co. LLC, a joint venture started by Boeing Co. that launches commercial satellites from the middle of the Pacific Ocean, is expected to emerge next week almost wholly owned by Russians after 15 months of bankruptcy.


The company, which has launched satellites for El Segundo-based DirecTV and other telecommunications firms, went into a financial tailspin last year after failed and scrapped launches and a slowdown in the satellite business. But a Delaware bankruptcy judge is expected to approve its reorganization plan July 27, and the company is poised to blast off again.

The company hasn’t launched a rocket from sea since April 2009, a month before it declared bankruptcy. Since then, the Odyssey launch platform and Sea Launch Commander ship have been idle, and a Long Beach work force that numbered 175 has been reduced to about 50.

Under the reorganization plan, a subsidiary of Russian aerospace giant Energia, which owned 25 percent of the company and manufactures its Zenit rockets, will increase its ownership stake to 95 percent in exchange for $140 million in cash. In addition, the company will kick in $200 million in working capital.

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