China News Agency, Brussels, January 11 (Reporter De Yongjian) The European Investment Bank, the European Union policy bank, announced on the 11th that it will provide a 300 million euro loan to Europe's largest satellite operator, European Satellite Company (SES), to finance Eurosat's fully digital satellite project.
On the same day, at the Luxembourg headquarters of the European satellite company, the two sides held a press conference to announce the financing agreement and related details. This is the largest loan provided by the European Investment Bank to a Luxembourg company so far.
According to the agreement, the European Investment Bank loan is a seven-year loan, which will be used to finance the purchase of three fully digital satellites by European satellite companies, covering a series of links such as satellite design and satellite launch.
Previously, Eutelsat announced that the three fully digital satellites planned to be purchased will be developed by the European aviation company Thales Alenia Space; to be launched as scheduled in 2024, Eusat will be able to provide customers in Western Europe, Africa and the Middle East. High-quality broadcast television and broadband services.
Talking about granting a 300 million euro loan to European satellite companies, Peters, vice president of the European Investment Bank and former deputy prime minister of Belgium, said at the press conference that space is a key driver of European R&D and innovation. The size of the loan in euros demonstrates the strategic importance of the space industry to the EIB and the EU.
For Eurosat, which currently owns and operates more than 70 satellites, it previously stated that among the three fully digital satellites purchased, two of them are a new generation of extremely flexible, software-defined satellites that can allocate bandwidth according to customer needs Even adjusting satellite functions in orbit will not only provide high-definition TV content to more than 100 million households in Western Europe, but will also promote Internet access in Europe into a "new era".
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