The company that owned the Amos-6 satellite, which was destroyed by the SpaceX rocket explosion, is seeking $50 million in compensation from CEO Elon Musk.
Space Communication, or Spacecom, had its stock fall more than 45 percent since the Falcon 9 rocket combusted upon liftoff Thursday. It will receive more than $2 million in insurance money from Israel Aerospace Industries, according to The Jerusalem Post.
The Amos-6 satellite was going to be used to provide Internet to areas without an expansive virtual infrastructure, like Africa. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was more than perturbed when he heard about the expensive accident.
“As I’m here in Africa, I’m deeply disappointed to hear that SpaceX’s launch failure destroyed our satellite that would have provided connectivity to so many entrepreneurs and everyone else across the continent,” Zuckerberg wrote.
Zuckerberg has been on an African tour engaging with the country’s tech leaders and touting the apparent ease of getting the continent access to the Internet.
Spacecom and Chinese firm Xinwei Technology Group were expected to finalize a merger deal once the satellite had been successfully launched.
“We hope to continue fruitful communications with the prospective buyer,” Gil Lotan, Spacecom’s general counsel, told Ars Technica.
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