Orbital ATK [OA] and U.S. Space LLC have moved to keep their lawsuit in Virginia as opposed to New York, where U.S. Space had motioned for jurisdiction of the case.
The Nov. 9 filing in New York Supreme Court is officially known as a stipulation of discontinuance. It must be approved by Judge Eileen Bransten to go into effect.
U.S. Space filed suit in April, claiming Orbital ATK broke an agreement the companies made to pursue customers for ViviSat, which was formed by U.S. Space and ATK prior to ATK merging with Orbital Sciences in late 2014. U.S. Space alleges that its former joint venture with Orbital ATK, Vivisat, secured $298 million in potential revenues for in-orbit satellite servicing from five companies over a two-year period (Defense Daily, May 4).
Orbital ATK had filed a previous motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction in New York. If Bransten approves the stipulation of discontinuance, this motion would be dropped. The suit is still active in Virginia.
Orbital ATK spokeswoman Sean Wilson declined to comment, citing pending litigation. A spokeswoman for U.S. Space did not return a request for comment by press time Tuesday.