President Obama, in emphasizing research and development during his State of the Union address, invoked the Space Race of the 1960s. But today, the race is on to find sources other than the government to finance the launch of telecommunications satellites into orbit. Much of that money comes from the private sector, primarily through debt and private equity deals. Peter Nesgos, who specializes in corporate deals in the space and satellite industry at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy in New York, talked to The National Law Journal about the business of financing satellites. The remarks below have been edited for length and clarity.
NLJ: What’s driving the surge in private financing of communications satellite providers?
