Russian space agency Roscosmos has won a multi-million-dollar payout against the Russian company which provided it with faulty rockets.
Three Roscosmos satellites were damaged after a Proton-M rocket produced by Russia’s Khrunichev Center crashed in 2013.
Moscow's Arbitration Court awarded the space agency 3.2 billion rubles in compensation after it ruled that the rocket malfunctioned due to a production defect, Russia's RIA Novosti news agency reported.
The company had earlier refused the Russian Defense Ministry's demands for an out-of-court settlement for 1.8 billion rubles in damages.
The Proton-M rocket crashed July 2, 2013 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The rocket, loaded with three satellites, began to disintegrate mid-air less than a minute after takeoff. Neither the rocket nor the satellites were insured. Roscosmos head Vladimir Popovkin was removed from office soon after the incident.
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