SUPPLIER FRAUD COST NASA USD700 MILLION IN ROCKET FAILURE
April 1st, 2019
Documents released by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on April 30 suggest fraud by an aluminium supplier, Sapa Profiles Inc (SPI), cost the agency over USD700 million. In a case that the US Department of Justice is investigating, Oregon-based SPI is accused of falsifying data about the parts’ suitability for use in space vehicles resulting in the loss of two Taurus rockets and the satellites they carried in 2009 and 2011. According to NASA’s report*, materials failings in the frangible joint rail, which is part of the ...
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