Having reported on the many challenges facing satellite operator Intelsat over this past year, it is refreshing to report a massive 11.5 per cent jump (35c) in its share price on April 19th, to $3.49.

Intelsat releases its quarterly numbers next week on April 28th, and perhaps investors are buoyed by the likelihood of good news. March 21st saw both Moody’s Investor Services and Standard & Poor’s downgrade Intelsat’s debt prospects, and stated that the satellite operator could default on some of its borrowings.

Certainly, the past few weeks have seen a slew of much-appreciated contracts, not least a recent renewal commitment from BBC Worldwide for carriage of its News channels around the world. As well as the BBC contract, Intelsat is also linking with Harmonic to launch an Ultra HD demo channel over North and South America.

On April 12th Intelsat signed up to be a debut anchor customer of Orbital ATK’s ‘satellite life extension vehicle’, a sort of orbiting rescue craft that will help extend the life of problem satellites.

Other posts by Chris Forrester:

1. Collar departure: “Hard to see a positive read”
2. Dish, DirecTV keen to merge?
3. Boeing accused of technology theft
4. Analyst: Satellite DTD market worth billions
5. Bank: Rocket Lab value boosted by Virgin Orbit assets
6. Analyst: “TV Industry consolidation inevitable”
7. Intelsat: ‘Insider trading’ appeal lodged
8. ESA boss praises SpaceX
9. How Virgin Orbit lost a billion dollars

Categories: Blogs, Business, Inside Satellite