VIA SATELLITE: What percentage of revenues will you derive from the telecoms and commercial market and how is this changing compared to previous years?
SEZNEC: It changes but not in a systematic way. We want to keep a balance in what we do in the institutional market and what we do on the commercial market. In 2008, on the commercial market, we generated 43 percent of our revenues. Defence and security were responsible for 20 percent of our revenues, and the institutional market was 35 percent. My wish is that we keep this kind of balance in the next few years.
This is maybe a difference between us and our U.S. competitors. We have to do well in both the commercial telecoms and institutional arenas. Success in the telecoms side is a driver for competitiveness for the institutional side. However, what we do in the institutional field is also a driver for innovation, research and development, which helps in developing the telecoms sector.
VIA SATELLITE: What impact will President Obama’s stimulus plan as well as the European Union Economic Recovery Plan have on the satellite industry?
SEZNEC: In terms of Europe, when I look at the Institutional market, the budget was decided at the Ministerial Conference which took place in November last year. The budget for the next three years has already been decided. The best support that the European authorities can give to the space industry in Europe is that they execute these budgets in a swift and timely manner, nothing more. That is the situation in Europe.
As I understand, in the United States, there is a renewed emphasis for meteorology and climate. This has been expressed by NOAA (the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and NASA. This will potentially allow us to propose payloads in the fields where we have assets such as altimetry. The other point is the intention to develop a strong broadband infrastructure across the United States. This would probably drive the demand in terms of services. This could benefit our own satellites, provided that their satellites are seen as infrastructures, the same as terrestrial infrastructure.
VIA SATELLITE: Are you expecting more orders for dedicated Ka-band satellites in 2009? Do you see this being a lucrative growth market for Thales Alenia Space over the next 12 months?
SEZNEC: My view is that these changes always slow, but there is a trend happening today. Today, we have a couple of opportunities in the pipe in a couple of regions such as North America and the Middle East. So we could see some satellite awards in the next month here, so broadband services will stimulate the need for capacity. We have the technologies and experiences in terms of payloads and system architectures to be used for broadband services. I think it could be a progressive move, and I think we will be part of it.
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