Ukraine talks with Boeing on Sea Launch program set for July – SSAU chief
Ukraine seeks to hold negotiations on cooperation with U.S. Boeing Corporation under the Sea Launch program in the course of the first launch of the Antares launch vehicle after its modernization scheduled for July from the Wallops Flight Facility (Virginia, the United States), Head of the State Space Agency of Ukraine (SSAU) Liubomyr Sabadosh has said.
Commenting on the results of his working visit to the United States on May 23-27, he said at a press conference in Kyiv that he failed to meet with Boeing representatives, but he received a signal that the negotiations on Sea Launch would be organized in July.
Sabadosh said that Boeing has not yet formed the final position for the project.
"I know that the interest of investors to continue the project exists. Negotiations are underway," he said, adding that representatives of investors visited Ukraine and Pivdenmash (Dnipropetrovsk) to discuss the possibility of making Zenit launch vehicle under the Sea Launch project in Ukraine.
The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in September 2015 satisfied a claim filed by Boeing against RSC Energia of Russia and Pivdenne Design Bureau, saying the partners breached their contract obligations by not reimbursing Boeing for Sea Launch expenses.
The shareholders of the Sea Launch consortium, which was created in 1995 to carry out commercial satellite launch from the sea launch site in the Pacific Ocean, were Boeing with 40%, RSC Energia with 25%, Ukrainian-based Pivdenne Design Bureau and state-run enterprise Pivdenmash with a combined share of 15% and the Anglo-Norwegian Engineering and Construction Кvaerner Group with 20%.
After reorganization in 2010, a total of 95% of shares are now owned by Energia Overseas Limited (EOL), a 'granddaughter' of RSC Energia, while a 3% stake belongs to U.S. Boeing, 2% to Norwegian Aker Solutions. The headquarters of Sea Launch AG are in Nyon (Switzerland).