Boeing faces legal action from a group of satellite insurers over defects on 702-series communications satellites that resulted in more than $1.6 billion worth of insurance claims. Claiming "company negligence", the insurers have reportedly filed an arbitration request with the International Chamber of Commerce seeking $250 million in damages.
The dispute concerns whether Boeing withheld information on degradation of the 702's solar-power concentrators. These angled reflectors along both sides of the solar arrays form a shallow trough to concentrate sunlight on the solar cells, but the panels lost optical quality and the resultant fogging reduced electrical power and spacecraft life.
Boeing says any claim that it was not forthcoming with information is "without merit". It says it informed customers after the problem surfaced in 2001, by which time six satellites had been launched. PanAmSat's Galaxy XI, launched in December 1999, was the first to display problems. It was followed by PanAmSat's PAS-1R, Telesat Canada's Anik F1 and XM Radio's XM-1 and -2, as well as the United Arab Emirates-owned Thuraya-1.
A total of 16 Boeing 702s have been ordered, of which nine have been launched, with options on six more. Later 702-series satellites are equipped with conventional planar solar arrays. Initially these produced less than the 18kW provided by the solar concentrators, but the latest design offers 18kW of power using dual- and triple-junction gallium-arsenide solar cells.
Source: Flight International
