NewSat administrators gives CFO the bump

Australian satellite communications provider NewSat has had yet another week in the spotlight following the appointment of administration firm, McGrathNicol in April this year.

Last week, Adrian Ballantine -- NewSat founder and now ex-chief executive officer -- received was handed out a redundancy by the administrators. Ballantine's colleague, chief financial officer Mark Spragg, was also shown the door on Wednesday.

Previously, shareholders were told that the company would continue operating as usual under the administrators' control, while the capital raising needed to pay Lockheed Martin and French satellite launch provider Arianespace for their services, would be progressed.

NewSat's first commercial satellite, Jabiru-1, a hybrid Ku- and Ka-band satellite, was intended to provide coverage over South-East Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. Construction of the Jabiru-1 spacecraft was previously being carried out by Lockheed Martin in the United States.

The launch of the satellite was projected to be early 2016, but last month, Arianespace elected to delay the launch until at least October 2016. On Wednesday, this date was pushed back until as late as February 2017. Now, Lockheed Martin has taken ownership of the Jabiru-1 satellite after McGrathNicol declined to take on the liability for the remaining cost of construction.

NewSat's remaining asset, its teleport business, continues to operate.