A syndicate of banks led by Crédit Agricole has financed the US$87.1mn purchase of a satellite.

The loan was made to Hispasat Canarias, a Spanish company, and will be used to fund the assembly and purchase of a satellite from Orbital Sciences Corporation in Virginia, US.

While the structure of the syndicate is unknown, the loan was guaranteed in full by the Export-Import Bank of the United States (US Exim).

Vice-chairman and CFO at Orbital Garret Pierce says: “US Exim has played a critical role in the financing of several high-value commercial satellites built by Orbital. Its participation has enabled us to compete on a level playing field around the world and win new export-related business. In addition, our success in capturing new orders of state-of-the-art spacecraft provides hundreds of high-tech and high-wage jobs for Orbital’s workforce and throughout our extensive network of US-based suppliers.”