Boeing has filed a lawsuit against RSC Energia and other Sea Launch partners to claim US$350m from them just days after the Intelsat 27 launch failure.
In a court filing Boeing claimed that RSC Energia, which is controlled by the Russian government, and…
Boeing has filed a lawsuit against RSC Energia and other Sea Launch partners to claim US$350m from them just days after the Intelsat 27 launch failure.
In a court filing Boeing claimed that RSC Energia, which is controlled by the Russian government, and two Ukrainian state-owned groups, PO Yuzhnoye Mashinostroitelny Zavod and KB Yuzhnoye, have refused to pay their share of loan guarantees.
According to Boeing, it helped fund the joint venture back in 1995 – directly through loans and indirectly through guarantees of third party loans – on the understanding that the group would be reimbursed by its partners if Sea Launch failed. Each of the partners agreed to reimburse Boeing for their fair share of funding in an amount reflecting their stakes in the venture, it claimed.
When Sea Launch was created in May 1995, Boeing owned 40% of the group, with Norway’s Kvaerner owning 20%, RSC Energia 25% and the Yuzhnoye companies holding 15%.
But supply chain issues helped force the launch provider to file for bankruptcy in 2009, and Boeing paid out almost US$450m after banks made calls on loan guarantees.
Following a restructuring, Sea Launch emerged from bankruptcy in 2010 with RSC Energia increasing its ownership to 95%. Boeing and Kvaerner split the remaining 5% stake.
Boeing said Kvaerner has paid its share under the agreement, but alleges that RSC Energia and the Yuzhnoye companies refuse to pay loan guarantees that total more than US$350m, with interest continuing to accrue daily.
Kirkland & Ellis LLP is representing Boeing. A representative of the Yuzhnoye companies declined to comment. RSC Energia was unavailable to comment.
The legal action comes after a Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket that was carrying the Intelsat-27 bird failed soon after liftoff. Preliminary data from the resulting investigation suggests the failure was connected to the thrust-vector control of the rocket’s first stage engine.
The satellite loss is a severe blow for Sea Launch because it was the only mission slated for 2013, and the company was planning to use the quiet period this year to build up hardware while looking for new contracts.
