Company Cannot Overcome Financial Difficulties

The technology firm Swiss Space Systems (S3) has been declared bankrupt by the civil court of Broye and North Vaud, according to multiple media reports.

The company had hoped to launch small satellites aboard reusable launchers resembling miniature space shuttles carried by an Airbus aircraft. It had also planned to offer zero-gravity flights to the general public as early as next year, according to the website thelocal.ch.

The declaration comes at the end of a difficult year for S3. Company founder and CEO was beaten and set on fire back in August by two attackers in a forest, according to reports. The investigation into that incident is ongoing, according to reports.

S3 has 10 days to respond to the decision of the court to declare the company bankrupt. There has been no official statement from the company so far.

The declaration also leaves in limbo a partnership with Canadore College in Ontario, Canada which was working with S3 to develop the reusable launch system. There had been some testing conducted in preparation for the flight of a mockup spacecraft two years ago, but no further advancement have been forthcoming, according to the Canadian newspaper Bay Today.

(Image provided by S3)

FMI: www.s-3.ch/en/home