Amazon and SpaceX are among the players in a bankruptcy bidding game with the assets of the OneWeb satellite venture at stake, according to Space Intel Report.
Quoting unnamed industry officials, Space Intel Report's Peter B. de Selding writes that other potential bidders include two Chinese organizations that are apparently acting on behalf of the Chinese government; the Paris-based satellite operator Eutelsat, which apparently has the backing of the French government and several other European Union member states; and Cerberus Capital Management, a New York-based private equity firm with interesting connections.
OneWeb has had 74 satellites launched into orbit in preparation for offering high-speed internet service from above, starting in the Arctic and eventually going global. But in March, the company filed for bankruptcy when a major backer, Japan's SoftBank Group, declined to kick in additional funding amid the financial chaos created by the coronavirus pandemic.
The bankruptcy process includes a timetable for auctioning off OneWeb's assets to compensate its creditors — led by Europe's Arianespace consortium, which has an unsecured claim of $238 million. Monday was the deadline for potential buyers to put in non-binding bid proposals, which would give them a chance to look at OneWeb's books.
SpaceX and Amazon are notable because both those companies have their own plans for satellite broadband services.
SpaceX already has 420 satellites in its Starlink constellation and says it plans to start offering limited commercial service by the end of this year. Amazon has announced plans to put 3,236 satellites in low Earth orbit for what's known as Project Kuiper, but it doesn't yet have the required regulatory clearances and hasn't yet announced a timetable for satellite deployment or service.
Amazon could conceivably make use of OneWeb's existing spectrum access for Project Kuiper's purposes. SpaceX could conceivably buy up OneWeb's assets merely to guarantee that neither Amazon nor any other rival can use them. It's also conceivable that those companies aren't truly interested in bidding at all, but just want to get a better sense of how the constellation competition is shaping up.
The European and Chinese bidders are likely to have a geopolitical as well as a commercial interest in building upon OneWeb's constellation.
"If OneWeb can persuade one or more governments that they must seize the OneWeb opportunity or 'leave low Earth orbit to the Americans,' or to the Chinese, or the French, whoever — then the auction could be a lively affair," de Selding writes.
Cerberus Capital seems to be the wild card in this constellation poker game: GeekWire reported last year that Cerberus acquired Stratolaunch, the Seattle-based aerospace venture that was created by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Stratolaunch's new owners say they're continuing to develop rocket-powered hypersonic vehicles that could be used for national security purposes.
The co-founder and CEO of Cerberus is Steve Feinberg, a secretive billionaire with ties to President Donald Trump. Cerberus focuses on investing in distressed companies, and the prospect of having OneWeb's assets fall into Chinese hands would probably serve as an added incentive for Cerberus to make a serious bid.
It won't be too long before all the players have to put their cards on the table: De Selding reports that final, binding bids (and good-faith deposits) are due on June 26, with the auction scheduled for July 2 at the New York offices of Milbank LLP, OneWeb's legal counsel.
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