[Satellite Today 01-08-09] The Los Angeles Superior Court has backed an October jury decision against Boeing Co. to award ICO Global Communications compensatory damages of $371 million, punitive damages of $236 million and prejudgment interest, ICO announced Dec. 7.
    Beginning Jan. 2, post-judgment interest will accrue on the full judgment amount at the rate of 10 percent ($63 million) per year.
    ICO’s litigation stems from when Hughes Electronics Corp. signed a contract with ICO in 1995 to build and launch 12 satellites. Boeing inherited the contract when it acquired Hughes in 2000. At the time, only two of the satellites were completed. Less than a year later, one of the satellites was lost due to a failure aboard a Sea Launch rocket.