WASHINGTON — Xtar LLC will continue providing X-bandwidth from its Xtar-Eur satellite for U.S. Army aviation end users for one year under a $5.6 million contract renewal with L-3 Communication Systems West of Salt Lake City, Utah.
In a Dec. 17 press release, Herndon, Va.- based Xtar said it is delivering capacity from multiple beams aboard the satellite to support Army intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance activities. The company specifically named Army-operated King Air 350 and Dash 8 aircraft, and said the renewal, which took effect Nov. 1, represents an increase over the previous contract value.
Xtar, which is 56 percent owned by Loral Space and Communications of New York and the rest by Hisdesat Servicios of Spain, provides X-band satellite capacity to U.S. and allied government users. The company operates the Xtar-Eur satellite located at 29 degrees east longitude and also leases capacity on Xtar-Lant satellite at 30 degrees west.
For the first nine months of 2013, Xtar reported an operating loss of $7.1 million on revenue of $24.8 billion. Both figures represent an improvement over 2012, when the corresponding figures were $9.6 million and $22.3 million, Loral said in a Nov. 12 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
“Even as the U.S. military proceeds to withdraw from areas of major conflict, the appetite for satellite bandwidth is on the increase,” Xtar President and Chief Operating Officer Philip Harlow said in the company’s press release.
Lisa Koppel, a spokeswoman for Xtar, declined to provide any additional information on the contract.
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