International Business
<i> Times Staff and Wire Reports</i>
Blame for Satellite Blast Undetermined: U.S. satellite maker Hughes Space & Communications International Inc. and China’s state-owned rocket launcher were unable to determine who is to blame for a January explosion that destroyed a $160-million satellite. Six-month parallel investigations into the failed Apstar-2 launch concluded that a winter wind shear--a sudden change in direction of the wind--damaged either the satellite or its rocket, causing both to explode. Although both sides were unable to agree on the exact cause of the failure, a Hughes spokesman said the separate conclusions point to weather as the culprit, rather than structural design.
