The United Nations Arbitration Court has ruled in favour of Maxar Technology in a dispute with the Ukrainian government.
Mediasat reports that the dispute revolved round a contract signed in 200 between Maxar’s predecessor MDA Corporation and the National Space Agency of Ukraine involving the construction and launch of Lybid-1, Ukraine’s first geostationary satellite.
It adds that the court rejected Ukraine’s claims in full and ruled that Maxar’s legal fees and expenses should be paid in full.
The initial contract was worth around $254 million and provided for the construction and launch of the satellite, as well as the provision of ground-based infrastructure. However, work was suspended in 2014 due to political instability in Ukraine and three years later MDA completely withdrew from the project following the disappearance of a large sum of money.
Although MDA/Maxar was paid for the production of the satellite and it was delivered, Ukraine then lost access to it following the conflict in the east of the country.
