First EXIM Satellite-related Deal Since 2015, Counters Foreign Competition

WASHINGTON (EXIM PR) – The Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) unanimously approved $80.7 million in EXIM financing to support launch services by SpaceX and also U.S.-brokered launch and initial in-orbit insurance for Hispasat Canarias S.L.U., a subsidiary of Hispasat, S.A., of Spain. These EXIM-supported services will help Hispasat to deploy a new satellite, Amazonas Nexus. The EXIM financing, which may take the form of a direct loan or a loan guarantee, is estimated to support approximately 500 American jobs in California, Florida, Texas, and Virginia.

The transaction is the first EXIM financing of a satellite-related export since 2015, before EXIM was forced to pause board-approved transactions for several years due to the lack of a board quorum. Today’s announcement marks an important step in EXIM’s re-emergence following the agency’s historic seven-year reauthorization by Congress in 2019. EXIM’s support is needed for this transaction to provide long-term financing for Hispasat that was unavailable from commercial lenders. EXIM’s support also counters potential export credit agency support for a French launch-services competitor, Arianespace.

WASHINGTON (EXIM Bank PR) – Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) President and Chairman Kimberly A. Reed today hosted a teleconference roundtable discussion with over 180 business leaders and stakeholders in the space technology sector. The event was the fifth teleconference in EXIM’s “Strengthening American Competitiveness” initiative, which provides valuable stakeholder input to EXIM’s new Program on China and Transformational Exports.

On the call, Chairman Reed highlighted how EXIM’s partnership with the private sector can provide new economic and security opportunities for U.S. companies. She also underscored EXIM’s commitment to accelerating the success of American companies in this key sector.

Continuing our look at the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission’s 2019 Report to Congress, we examine China’s growing commercial space industry. [Full Report]

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

China is using aggressive state-backed financing to capture increasing shares of the commercial launch and satellite markets, making it more difficult for American companies to compete and threatening to hollow out the U.S. industrial base.

China is also leverage “military-civil” fusion to create a burgeoning commercial space sector by providing substantial state support. Nearly 90 new space companies have been created since 2014, most of which enjoy the support of the Chinese military, defense industrial base, or state-owned research and development institutions.