OHB CEO Suspended After Embarrassing WikiLeaks Comments
By Jeffrey Hill | January 18, 2011
[Satellite TODAY 01-18-11] German space technology company OHB Systems has suspended CEO Berry Smutny for remarks he made about Europe’s Galileo navigation system that were published by the Web site WikiLeaks, OHB announced Jan. 18.
The remarks were part of WikiLeaks documents published last week, where in conversations with U.S. Ambassador Philip Murphy, Smutny described the Galileo system as a “waste of taxpayer money” and “nonsense.”
In a company statement, OHB, which received an initial contract for the Galileo system last year, said they suspended Smutny to “avert immense damage to our reputation.”