Two of the German military's new spy satellites appear to have failed in orbit
arstechnica.com
arstechnica.com
German sources say they did not fully test the functionality and deployment of the satellite antennas on the ground.
> Shockingly, the German publication says that its sources indicated OHB did not fully test the functionality and deployment of the satellite antennas on the ground. This could not be confirmed.
> This setback comes as OHB is attempting to complete a deal to go private—the investment firm KKR is planning to acquire the German space company. OHB officials said they initiated the effort to go private late last year because public markets had "structurally undervalued" the company.
Perhaps the public markets were quite correct to apply a hefty Incompetence Discount to OHB's value? These are hardly the first expensive satellites to have suffered Antenna Deployment Failures, for "that never happened before" excuses to apply.