September 1 News Items

Motorola Didn't Mislead Iridium Investors, Judge Says (Source: Bloomberg)
Motorola Inc., the world's second- biggest mobile-phone maker, didn't knowingly mislead investors about the prospects of its failed Iridium LLC satellite unit, a bankruptcy judge ruled. It couldn't be proved Iridium was insolvent before its 1998 launch, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Peck in New York said today in a written ruling. His finding will keep Iridium creditors from recovering at least some of the $3.45 billion they claim Motorola owes them under a theory that it was liable for Iridium's collapse because it saddled the unit with debt and a poor business plan as consumers shunned its bulky, expensive phones. "The fact that Iridium failed in such a spectacular fashion stands out as a disturbing counterpoint to the market's optimistic predictions of present and future value," Peck wrote, closing the first phase of a six-year-old case.

Cocoa Firm Wins California Spaceport Support Contract (Source: DOD)
Call Henry, Inc., of Cocoa, Florida, has being awarded a contract modification for $8,821,848 for centralized management, operation, maintenance, repair, upgrade, and launch support for critical range and launch facilities and infrastructure supporting range transmitting and receiving sites, launch pads, spacecraft clean rooms, processing facilities, and aerospace ground equipment at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.