SpaceX Loses Launch Order to Arianespace

LONDON—Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp. has lost a spacecraft launch order from a major satellite operator to a European rival after the failure of one of its rockets and delays in resuming flights.

Inmarsat PLC Thursday said it would move the launch of one of its satellites to the Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket. The London-based satellite-services company said it took the action after delays in the launch schedule for the Falcon 9 rocket, made by SpaceX, as the rocket company is called.

SpaceX lost one of its Falcon 9 rockets in an explosion during a routine refueling exercise in September at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. It destroyed an Israeli satellite Facebook Inc. planned to use to provide internet access to people in sub-Saharan Africa.

Investigators believe a refueling procedure led to the failure.

SpaceX officials were trying to resume flights before year-end. However, on Wednesday the Hawthorne, Calif.-based company said it was still completing the investigation into the explosion and that the resumption of flights had been pushed back to early January. The extra time would allow additional testing to assure the next launches are successful.

Inmarsat Chief Executive Rupert Pearce last month expressed concern the investigation could impact the timing of future launches and jeopardize some of his company's service plans. Inmarsat was considering alternatives, he said.

The satellite being moved to the European rocket is a critical element of Inmarsat's plan to provide high-speed in-flight Wi-Fi to airline customers flying in Europe. British Airways-parent International Consolidated Airlines Group SA is the launch customer for the service, which is due to commence next year.

Finding an available rocket this close to a launch date can be a challenge for satellite operators.

"We are delighted with flexibility that Arianespace has shown in being able to provide a launch slot," Inmarsat chief technology officer Michele Franci said.

​Ariancespace is principally owned by a joint venture of Airbus Group SE and France's Safran SA.

Despite moving the so-called European Aviation Network satellite to the Ariane 5 rocket, Inmarsat on Thursday signaled continued confidence in SpaceX.

The London-listed company would maintain the launch of one of its Global Xpress satellites on a Falcon rocket. That launch is planned for the first half of next year. "Inmarsat is looking forward to continuing to work with SpaceX," the satellite services company said.

--Andy Pasztor contributed to this article.

Write to Robert Wall at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 08, 2016 04:05 ET (09:05 GMT)

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