World-be satellite operator LeoSat has abandoned its launch plans. It was reported back in September that LeoSat was having difficulty in raising the next stages of its financial needs.  On Oct 21st Ronald van der Breggen, CEO, announced he had left the company leaving founder Mark Rigolle in charge.

News has emerged from specialist newssite Space Intel Report that LeoSat has now suspended operations and laid off all of its remaining staff.

It was also previously reported that existing financial backers Japan’s SkyPerfect JSat and Spain’s Hispasat had also ended their financial support for LeoSat.

However, bad news as this is for LeoSat it also places Thales-Alenia Space in a difficult position. Thales-Alenia holds the ITU filing priority for the Ka-band satellite frequencies that LeoSat would have been using. The frequencies were allocated to Thales0Alenia via the French National Frequencies Agency (ANFR).

The access to those frequencies expire in January 2021.

Space Intel Report quotes Rigolle, a former CFO at SES, saying that while the venture had successfully captured pre-commitment orders of some $2 billion, it had struggled to secure the funding needed to take the business to the next level. He is quoted as saying that LeoSat’s concept would be mothballed.

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