[SatNews] The Export-Import Bank of the United States has approved a $171.5 million direct loan to support the export of a Ku-band broadcast satellite by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) of Palo Alto, Calif., to SES S.A. of Chateau de Betzdorf, Luxembourg.

The Ex-Im Bank financing also will cover launch insurance from AON Corporation, Chicago, Ill. SES will lease the entire capacity of the 32-transponder QuetzSat-1 satellite to EchoStar 77, which in turn will provide direct-to-home (DTH) broadcast satellite services for the ultimate end-user, DISH Network, Mexico.

"Financing from Ex-Im Bank helps enable our customers to move forward with their vision of extending communications infrastructure around the world," said John Celli, president of Space Systems/Loral. "It means hundreds of new jobs at our Palo Alto, Calif. manufacturing facility.” Celli also said the ability to provide Ex-Im Bank credit “helps us better compete against large government-supported overseas manufacturers that vie for the same business." He said SS/L is one of the only large international aerospace companies that does not rely on government contracts for its business.

This is Ex-Im Bank’s first transaction with SES, a leading fixed satellite service provider with a global fleet of 44 satellites that reaches 99 percent of the world’s population. The QuetzSat-1 satellite also could provide services to Central America, the Caribbean and the continental United States ,if needed. Ex-Im Bank, an independent, self-sustaining federal agency, helps create and maintain U.S. jobs by filling gaps in export financing and strengthening U.S. export competitiveness.

In fiscal year 2010, the Bank posted its second consecutive record-breaking year, including preliminary figures of $24.5 billion in export financing, which supported $34.4 billion worth of American exports and 227,000 American jobs at more than 3,300 U.S. companies. Of these authorizations, more than $5 billion was for small businesses — another record for the Bank.