The government agreed to pay 2.58 billion yen to the National Space Development Agency of Japan in an out-of-court settlement Wednesday over the failed launch of a multipurpose satellite in November 1999.
The then Transport Ministry and the Meteorological Agency asked the agency to produce a H-II rocket and launch the U.S.-made satellite, which was to be used for air traffic control and weather observation, at a cost of 10 billion yen in 1995.
The ministry and the agency, which had already paid 6.5 billion yen to NASDA by November 1999, refused to pay the remaining 3.5 billion yen after the rocket had to be destroyed when it went out of control.
NASDA filed a lawsuit in September demanding that the ministry and the agency pay the remaining cost. The government, however, demanded NASDA return the 6.5 billion yen that it had already paid.
The 1995 contract between the government and NASDA did not include any provisions for a launch failure, as the H-II rocket had never failed previously.
Wednesday's agreement says that of the 3.5 billion yen, the government does not have to pay the 924.8 million yen in launching procedure costs.