Brandon Doyle, the CEO of Convergence Partners, says the exact dates for the relaunch are still not known but the company expects clarity by the end of this week.

Operating from a geostationary orbital slot at 32,8° east, Intelsat New Dawn will deliver telephony, broadband internet access and media content to much of Africa. It will address the capacity backlog faced by providers of wireless telecoms, broadband services, corporate network services and pay-TV.

Satellite connectivity is important for Africa as the continent’s size makes it impossible to cover by fibre optics.

At the prelaunch presentation at the Guiana Space Centre last week, Andile Ngcaba, chairman of Convergence Partners, said the satellite would play a key role in growing broadband access in Africa. "Broadband is a critical commodity," he said.

Intelsat New Dawn’s clients include Gateway Communications and its parent company, Vodacom , which has access to 12 transponders in the C-band and five transponders in the Ku-band, mainly used to cover small areas such as remote ATM sites. A transponder is in effect a communications channel on a satellite.

Another company that has bought capacity is SkyeVine, which plans to deliver broadband services in sub-Saharan Africa. SkyeVine, a joint venture between Ellies Holdings and Q-KON, will provide affordable broadband internet services to small businesses, and to homes and public service entities.

Intelsat New Dawn also received a symbolic boost from the image of Nelson Mandela’s signature, which is featured on the rocket’s fairing.

Mr Doyle says the effect of the aborted launch on Convergence is very minor. There has been no damage to the craft and the costs of the delay — such as moving the launch vehicle back, replacement of certain linings and pyrotechnics cartridges of the rocket and refuelling — are taken care of by the insurance providers of New Dawn or its technical sub-contractors.

"Of course, the delay does mean we push out the date on which New Dawn can first bill customers and we have an interest roll-up on the debt so there is a cost to us there, but it’s pretty minor in the overall scale of things and is partly mitigated by revenue generation on G11 (the Intelsat craft that was floated across into the New Dawn orbital slot)," he says.

The satellite may be relaunched in two to three weeks.

All indications were that the satellite was to be launched on schedule, but literally a second before blastoff the launch system automatically switched off.

"We understand the anomaly relates to the gimbal of the engine (which is effectively used for steering the rocket) which was slightly out of alignment," says Idan Segal, Convergence Partners’ chief investment officer.

The launch event attracted hundreds of people who gathered in the main auditorium and the outside launch observatory. Among these was Deputy Communications Minister Obed Bapela and the South African ambassador to France, Dolana Msimang .

Mr Bapela says while it was disappointing that the launch did not take place, this was not unusual. "Nothing is ever cast in stone.… The advantage is that nothing seems to be broken," he said.

The satellite weighs about three tons and has a life span of at least 15 years. It was built by Orbital Sciences Corporation.

Mike van den Bergh, CEO of Gateway Communications, says the company has a contingency plan and will delay the migration of clients to Intelsat New Dawn until the service becomes available.

"Nothing has been damaged so I don’t think the relaunch will be postponed for a very long time. The satellite business is not a risk-free business. Given our experience in the satellite business, we always have a plan," he says.

Intelsat New Dawn, which was completed on time and within budget, was hatched in 2006 as a partnership with global satellite company Intelsat, a Convergence Partners-led consortium, which includes Altirah Capital and the Oppenheimer family’s private equity portfolio. Nedbank , the Industrial Development Corporation and the African Development Bank provided debt financing.

mochikot@bdfm.co.za