ASTRIUM FILES $133 MILLION SUIT AGAINST TRW OVER SOLAR PANELS
Astrium is seeking $133 million damages from TRW and 2 other companies in U.S. Dist. Court, L.A., for problems associated with solar panel contracts on 9 satellites constructed for company. Following weeks of negotiations, companies haven’t been able to agree, and case apparently will go to court, industry source said. Astrium has revised its original complaint and now is accusing TRW of fraud in its handling of contract. Optical Filter Corp. (OFC) of Natick, Mass., div. of Corning Netoptix, and Pilkington Optronics of Tustin, Cal., were also named in suit, accused of negligence.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
Astrium suffered $97 million loss from New Skies, which canceled order because of delay in delivery of NSS-7 satellite, company said in suit, and delays were direct result of investigation into problems with solar panels. Problems since have been corrected and problem parts now are operating smoothly, it said. Losses cited in suit include contract penalties, lost incentive payments, damage claims by customers, loss of future profits, damage to reputation and costs of investigation to find source of problems.
Lawsuit alleges Astrium-built satellites -- 3 for World Space and 2 for Eutelsat -- suffered delivery delays and in- orbit problems because of difficulties with solar panels, which have been cited repeatedly by several companies that faced in-flight anomalies. Four of satellites -- AfriStar for WorldSpace, Hotbird 4 and Hotbird 5 for Eutelsat and ST-1 for Singapore -- were launched with defective coatings on their solar cells, suit alleges. Coatings were supplied by OFC to Pilkington and TRW.
Astrium also said OFC made unauthorized changes in regular coating preparation normally used by Pilkington. TRW and Pilkington noticed problems with coatings and informed OFC of issue. OFC, TRW and Pilkington agreed in June 1997 that OFC would return to normal, regularly approved procedure for making coatings, suit said. However, it said that was too late because satellites already had been damaged because of defective coatings. Major problems came about because TRW never informed Astrium that it had noticed defects, in form of surface roughness variations, and never advised Astrium that manufacturing guidelines had been compromised.
Responsibility for panels went from OFC, which supplied coatings, to Pilkington, which supplied them to TRW for integration into solar cell panels, suit says. Subsequently, TRW supplied solar panels to Fokker Space of Netherlands, prime contractor for solar panels. (Fokker wasn’t named in lawsuit.) Astrium also charged TRW continued to use defective solar cell cover glass coated by OFC after companies agreed to discontinue its use.
Astrium certified in writing that guidelines were followed in production of solar panels. Satellite contracts often have affidavit assuring written instructions were followed and no problems are anticipated. Six Astrium employees allegedly signed documents that all specifications were met and solar panels would meet flight specifications. Astrium also charged that when it learned of possible problems with satellites, it reviewed procedures with TRW, which responded that OFC procedures were standard and solar panels could be used efficiently in space. Astrium conducted extensive investigation into panel problems after several customers filed contract claims against company, lawsuit said.