Ford Aerospace Corp and its partners Alcatel Espace SA of France and Japan’s Mitsubishi Electric Co are in the cat-bird seat for the contract to supply the satellites for the International Telecommunications Satellite Organisation’s Intelsat VII series: Intelsat says that it will be negotiating with Ford for three to five satellites with options on an unspecified additional number between now and 1994: the first of the new series of telecommunications satellites is due to fly in mid-1992; Matra SA of France is first reserve for the contract and unsuccessful contenders for the contract, which could be worth as much as $1,000m, included General Motors’s Hughes Aircraft unit, and General Electric.
