The Swedish owners of Ovzon-3 must be breathing a strong sigh of relief at the news that their much-delayed Ovzon-3 satellite will launch in December.

The problem for Ovzon is that if the satellite doesn’t launch by December 31st it could find its frequency rights to occupy 59.7 degrees East slot cancelled for failing to meet its launch obligations with the ITU.

Such was Ovzon’s near-desperation to meet the deadline that it switched launch contracts way from Arianespace to SpaceX.

“The final assembly and testing of the satellite, in addition to the complex modeling associated with changing launch vehicles, has progressed well and according to plan in recent months. We are now moving forward with further detailed launch planning and with transportation of the satellite to the launch site in Cape Canaveral, Florida. There are always some uncertainties regarding spacecraft launches that are not possible to predict, but we are now getting really close”, said Per Norén CEO of Ovzon, speaking last week.

Ovzon had already missed a deadline (December 15th 2022) because of the late delivery of the satellite from Maxar Technologies, itself not helped by Covid and related component delays.

Currently Ovzon leases bandwidth on rival satellites and that pattern will continue for the tie being even after launch because the satellite uses electric propulsion and means that the craft will take some months to reach its designated orbit.