spacetoday.net: ICO wins lawsuit against Boeing

Posted: Thu, Oct 23, 2008, 8:11 AM ET (1211 GMT)
A California jury awarded satellite operator ICO over $370 million in a suit against Boeing regarding a contract to manufacture a constellation of communications satellites. ICO won $371 million plus interest, as well as potential additional punitive damages, in a verdict issued Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. ICO filed a suit claiming breach of contract and fraud, seeking over $2 billion in actual and punitive damages, after a contract with Boeing for the manufacture of a dozen communications satellites intended for a medium Earth orbit system broke down. Only two of the 12 satellites were launched, and only one made it to orbit; ICO then encountered financial problems which left the remaining 10 in storage. ICO claimed Boeing demanded hundreds of millions of dollars to complete the satellites, while also becoming a competitor to Boeing in communications services. Boeing, in a statement, called the verdict flawed and planned to appeal, a process that could take several years.