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Spacecom said it was buying a satellite from Boeing Satellite
Systems International for $161 million.
The new satellite, Amos-17, is aimed at expanding and
strengthening Spacecom's coverage of growing satellite service
markets in Africa, the Middle East and Europe, it said.
Amos-17 is designed to operate for more than 15 years.
"It will be a catalyst for Spacecom's growth plans over the next
decade," the company said in a statement.
Spacecom last year lost contact with its Amos-5 satellite, which
was launched in 2011 and provided coverage to clients in Africa.
It had planned to launch Amos-6 on Sept. 3 but two days before
the scheduled launch an explosion destroyed both the satellite
and a Falcon 9 rocket belonging to Elon Musk's SpaceX during
preparations for a routine test firing at Cape Canaveral in
Florida.
Amos-6 was going to be used by Facebook to expand Internet
access in Africa.
Spacecom is in negotiations to be sold to Beijing Xinwei
Technology Group, which in August said its planned $285 million
bid was conditional on the successful launch of Amos-6.
Beijing Xinwei said last month the purchase price had been
lowered to about $190 million.
Israel's Eurocom Holdings owns 64 percent of Spacecom, whose
shares were up 3.6 percent in afternoon trading in Tel Aviv but
are down some 70 percent since Amos-6 was destroyed.
(Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by Mark Potter)
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