Spacecom, the AMOS satellites operator, announced in June 2012 that it had signed a US$195 million contract to build AMOS-6, the newest addition to the AMOS constellation, with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). In January 2013, Spacecom announced that they had signed a contract with
SpaceX for the 2015 launch of the AMOS-6 satellite on a
Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The parties agreed to the right to terminate the contract if AMOS-6 and the ground gateways in France, Italy and
Israel were not ready for service by 1 January 2017. The lease was for the use of the satellite until September 2021, with an option for a two-year extension at a reduced rate. The explosion started near the upper stage
LOX (liquid oxygen) tank. Because the satellite was destroyed prior to the launch, the cost of the satellite was not covered by Spacecom's insurance policy, but rather by the manufacturer, IAI. IAI had its own insurance and filed a claim in order to compensate Spacecom. Spacecom's contract with SpaceX specified that Spacecom could choose to receive US$50 million, or a future flight at no cost. Spacecom chose the future flight to launch
AMOS-17. News reports in early November 2016 indicated that SpaceX had determined the root cause for the anomaly, that it was straightforwardly fixable, and that SpaceX would return to flight in December 2016. On 2 January 2017, SpaceX released an official statement indicating that the cause of the failure was a buckled liner in several of the
Composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV) tanks, causing perforations that allowed liquid and/or solid oxygen to accumulate between the liner and the overwrap, which was ignited by friction. == See also ==