Space Communication, which owned the sophisticated Amos-6 satellite lost when the rocket it was to ride into space exploded on the launchpad, is set to receive more than $2 million in compensation from Israel Aerospace Industries.
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The “static fire” test was to follow with a brief firing of the booster’s nine engines.
Facebook had spent about $95 million to rent capacity on the satellite over the next five years along with French satellite operator, Eutelsat. SpaceX’s blog post didn’t provide much in the way of new information, and continued to stress that “the data indicates the anomaly originated around the upper stage liquid oxygen tank”.
Israel-based Space Communication told reporters Sunday that it could seek $50 million or a free flight from Elon Musk’s SpaceX to cover the cost of its now destroyed Amos-6 advanced communications satellite, according to Reuters. “Per standard operating procedure, all personnel were clear of the pad and there were no injuries”.
Last June, an unmanned Falcon 9 rocket exploded a few minutes after launching from Cape Canaveral. It was scheduled to fly for the 29th time on Saturday.
Aon International Space Brokers is one of the players in the sector, and since it was created has collected more than $3 billion in satellite claims.
“There is no threat to general public from catastrophic abort during static test fire at SpaceX launch pad”, a spokesman for the Brevard County Emergency Management Office said.
The social networking giant had special interest in the Falcon 9, as it was carrying an Israeli-made satellite meant to be used in Facebook’s internet.org programme, bringing connectivity to the continent. Luckily they have developed other kinds of technology such as Aquila that will also be connecting people.
He stated that being in Africa the destruction due to launch failure was a awful disappointment to him because it would have given connectivity to entrepreneurs and other individuals that may have utilized it well.
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“We will keep working until everyone has the opportunities this satellite would have provided”.
