Bolivia’s TKSAT-1 satellite launched with Chinese export credit loan

(Space News, Paris, 28 December 2015) The Bolivian Space Agency (ABE) said its Tupac Katari (TKSAT-1) telecommunications satellite is expected to generate $2 million in monthly revenue in 2016 and to reach a fill rate in the coming years that could justify a second satellite. ABE did not disclose the specific terms of its China Development Bank loan, but most export-credit agencies advance funds at low interest rates, with repayming starting well after the satellite is operational in orbit.