JERUSALEM, May 21 (Reuters) - Israel’s Space Communications said on Monday it signed an agreement with a foreign company for satellite communications services from its Amos-17 satellite that is slated to be launched in the second quarter of 2019.
The four-year deal to supply communications services mainly to Africa is worth $55 million and is expected to begin on either July 1, 2019 or at the start of operations of Amos-17, Spacecom said.
If regulatory approvals required are not received by July 15, 2018, either side may terminate the agreement and neither will have any liabilities towards the other.
Amos-17, being manufactured by Boeing and scheduled to be launched by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is designed to meet the growing communication demands in Africa.
In September 2016, Amos-6 was destroyed days before its scheduled launch when a SpaceX launcher exploded. Spacecom also lost contact with another satellite in 2015.
Spacecom is 64 percent owned by Eurocom Holdings. (Reporting by Steven Scheer; editing by Tova Cohen)