Loral Skynet announced that it would provide satellite communications services to the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), through an agreement with Global Crossing, that will support the recovery efforts related to the tsunami disaster.

Loral Skynet is providing a 256 Kb VSAT (very small aperture terminal) satellite communications link and related support services to British Foreign Office employees onsite in Phuket, Thailand. The system is being used to aid in the DNA analysis and identification efforts of British citizens in the region. Information is collected from widely dispersed locations across Thailand and sent from Phuket to specialists in the United Kingdom for analysis. The process is expected to last from three to six months.