MyUSTINET News: Satellite Firm Fires CEO For Remarks

BRUSSELS, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- The head of a German satellite company has been fired for calling Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system "stupid" and "doomed to failure", officials said.

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The board of German satellite firm OHB Technology sacked Chief Executive Officer Berry Smutny Monday after last week's release of a diplomatic cable containing the remarks, EUobserver reported.

Meant to compete with the U.S.-built Global Positioning System, Galileo has already attracted controversy due to massive budget overruns, EUobserver said.

"I think Galileo is a stupid idea that primarily serves French interests", Smutny allegedly told U.S. diplomats, who sent an October 2009 cable from the U.S. embassy in Berlin that was obtained by WikiLeaks and released by the Norwegian daily newspaper Aftenposten.

The project, due to become operational in 2014, is "doomed to failure" and a "waste of EU taxpayers' money", Smutny is reported as saying.

Asked by Aftenposten to comment on the cable, Smutny conceded that he had met U.S. officials but denied making the remarks.

OHB Technology was awarded a $750 million contract to develop 14 satellites for the Galileo system, originally budgeted to cost $4.5 billion but reported to be heading for a final cost closer to $26 billion.

In as statement released Monday, the board of OHB Technology said it had "passed a unanimous resolution to revoke Mr Smutny's appointment".

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