IAI to Pay $10 Million to Spacecom for Delayed Satellite Delivery
The damages, along with an additional sum of $400,000 in legal expenses, will be paid as part of an arbitration agreement between state-owned weapons and aerospace company IAI and the satellite operator
State-owned Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) will pay $10 million in damages to Israeli satellite operator Space Communication Ltd., better known as Spacecom, the latter announced in a Tel Aviv Stock Exchange filing Thursday. The damages, along with an additional sum of $400,000 in legal expenses, will be paid as part of an arbitration agreement between the parties regarding the delayed delivery of IAI’s AMOS-6 satellite to Spacecom.
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AMOS-6 was destroyed in a pre-launch explosion on a SpaceX platform in September 2016, costing Spacecom around $380 million in lost contracts.
The SpaceX explosion that destroyed AMOS-6. Photo: EPA
In September, the Israeli government agreed to pay for the construction of AMOS-8, Spacecom’s new communication satellite, meant to replace AMOS-7, which the company leased following the 2016 explosion. The move was made after IAI lost a tender to construct the satellite to Palo Alto, California-based Space Systems/Loral LLC.
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Later that month, Spacecom announced it has terminated its deal with Loral as well as its launch deal with SpaceX and is exploring several alternatives, including cooperation with the Israeli government.
