Aussat Pty Ltd, the Australian satellite telecommunications carrier, has made a controversial decision in choosing China to launch Phase One of its second generation satellites. Apart from the world’s condemnation of the Tiananmen Square massacre – and the way China has since been ostracised – some countries have claimed that the Chinese government subsidises its satellite launch services, giving it an unfair advantage over the rest of the world. As a result of this accusation, many US rocket-launching companies have been lobbying their government to try to prevent satellite manufacturers from gaining export licences to China, prompting China to make a counter-allegation that the West is trying to gain a monopoly over satellite launches. The Aussat B-1 satellite is to be sent up in early-to-mid March on the Long March rocket. It will replace the A-1 satellite, which reaches the end of its life late this year. The majority of the construction was undertaken by Hughes Aircraft Co, though Aussat made a compulsory 8% Australian component clause a part of its the deal, and the initial $23.9m has resulted in a total flow-on effect worth $149.5m to Australian industry. B-2 has a projected launch date sometime between August and October. The signs of action make a welcome change for the company, which has been relatively slow in getting its act together – approval for the second series was given in 1988, but for a long time a question-mark hung over the loss-making company, which culminated in it being sold from state control last November. A consortium made up of Cable & Wireless Plc, BellSouth Corp and Optus Pty paid $800m for it, and promised at the time to spend $2,000m on it over the next six years. It seems that we are now seeing the first evidence.
