The owner of the satellite on board the SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket which was last week destroyed by an unexpected and fiery explosion has now demanded $50m or a free ride on the next launch from Elon Musk’s company.
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The AMOS-6 satellite, which reportedly cost the company almost $200 million, was to be used to expand internet access in sub-Saharan Africa.
It’s also unclear if a merger deal involving Spacecom and a Chinese tech firm is in jeopardy.
SpaceX was also supposed to take Falcon 9 to ISS (International Space Station) to provide the stock, after the accident NASA is afraid that it will have to wait for long to send the supplies, many other companies also seem to be standing in the line with almost 70 launches, which were promised by SpaceX.
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The loss of Amos 6 comes as a particularly hard blow for Spacecom, as it previously lost contact with its Amos 5 satellite earlier this year, and it was counting on Amos 6 for new customers and to move customers over from the much older Amos 2 and Amos 3 satellites. It happened in June 2015 and destroyed a load of cargo headed for the International Space Station (ISS).In a statement, Elon Musk’s aerospace company confirmed that an anomaly was the cause of the incident.
The explosion occurred last Thursday during a test in advance of the planned launch from from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, next to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Space Com said Sunday in a statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange that it’s due $294 million in compensation for the loss.
Xinwei officials on Monday declined to comment on whether the incident would impact the terms of the deal. Xinwei, meanwhile, said it was in “close communication” with Spacecom over the future of the merger.
Amos-6 was supposed to be leased to Eutelsat Communications and Facebook (FB) to expand internet access in sub-Saharan Africa.
In January 2013, Spacecom announced it had signed a contract with SpaceX for the launch of Amos-6 on the Falcon 9. However, the California launch pad can be used only for certain types of space missions, while the second Florida launch pad is not fully ready to support launches right now.
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The cause of the accident is under investigation. The Israeli communications satellite operator said that it could seek compensation or a free flight on the US space agency’s Falcon 9 rocket to cover the cost of its now destroyed advanced communications satellite.
