Satellite risk

Ready for launch

Building communications satellites is not for the faint-hearted. The hardware can cost up to $300 million and take three years to build – but if something goes wrong at launch, all can be lost in a fraction of a second.

Despite this, Rick Medlock, chief financial officer at London-based satellite communications operator Inmarsat, says he’s less worried than he used to be about the prospect of a faulty valve or a coolant leak turning a significant share of his company’s capital expenditure into t