Intelsat

Intelsat is a pioneering satellite communications company founded in 1964 as an intergovernmental consortium — the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization — that operated the world's first commercial communications satellites. Intelsat was privatized in 2001 and became the world's largest GEO satellite operator by fleet size, serving broadcasters, telecommunications companies, governments, and enterprises across 200+ countries. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2020 amid the decline in video broadcasting revenue and the costs of clearing C-band spectrum for 5G (for which it received a $3.97 billion FCC payment). SES completed the acquisition of Intelsat in May 2024, creating a combined operator with over 100 satellites and approximately $3.5 billion in combined annual revenue, substantially consolidating the GEO communications satellite market.