Brussels, 22/04/2010 (Agence Europe) - With backing of €225 million from the EU's Risk-sharing Finance Facility (RSFF), jointly created by the European Commission and European Investment Bank, Europe will, in 2012, launch an innovative telecoms satellite. The Alphasat mission is a joint undertaking of the European Space Agency (ESA) and Inmarsat Plc, a UK-based satellite communications company. An agreement was signed in Brussels at 4.00pm on Thursday by EIB President Philippe Maystadt and Inmarsat Chief Operating Officer Perry Melton, with European Research, Innovation and Science Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn and ESA Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications Magali Vaissiere looking on.
The prototype Alphasat satellite will be the first satellite to be launched using a next generation satellite “bus” developed by the European Space Agency and the French agency CNES. It will extend high-speed data and voice communications to remote parts of Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Alphasat will be used by maritime, aeronautical and land mobile users in all kind of situations and this will among other things facilitate the work of medical and emergency services. The Alphasat satellite will be “open access” for research organisations. It will initially house four applications developed by several European universities, industry and space organisations for aeronautical, land and maritime research.
The EIB is providing Inmarsat a loan of up to €225 million towards the construction and launch of the satellite, expected to cost around €598 million. The loan is being provided from the joint EC-EIB Risk Sharing Finance Facility, backed by funds from the European Union's 7th research framework programme (€1 billion) and EIB own resources (€1 billion). The ESA is contributing around €230 million through the provision of the Alphabus platform.
The RSFF improves access to research, development and innovation financing for private companies or public institutions. It covers projects whose level of ambition and complexity makes private funding sources difficult to find, despite the prospects of major benefits in terms of economic growth, job creation, competitiveness and social advances. (O.L./transl.rt)