2 weeks ago
US appeals court upholds $565m award against ISRO's Antrix
In 2005, India's space agency made a deal with a small company called Devas Multimedia to share satellite space.
In 2011, the Indian government stopped the deal, saying it needed the radio space for security.
Devas said that wasn't fair and took the case to a special court called an arbitration tribunal.
The tribunal said the space agency's business arm, Antrix Corp, had to pay Devas a lot of money.
Devas went to courts in the United States to collect it, and an American appeals court has now said the payment stands.
The court said American judges can hear the case because the company gave up some special protection that foreign governments usually get.
The judges also said some of Devas's investors cannot grab Antrix property in the US for now.
With interest, the bill is now bigger than 1.2 billion dollars.
But Indian courts have also said the award is cancelled, so an American judge still has to decide whether Devas can really collect the money.
That means the story is not finished yet.
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the confirmation of an ICC arbitration award against Antrix Corp, ISRO's commercial arm, ruling the FSIA's arbitration exception gives US courts jurisdiction.
The September 2015 award — reported as $565.2 million in one account and $562.5 million in another — is now worth over $1.2 billion with interest; Devas counsel says it has crossed $2 billion.
The court rejected Antrix's arguments that the case should have been decided in India and that Fifth Amendment minimum contacts were required, following the US Supreme Court's June 5, 2025 ruling.
The Ninth Circuit granted Antrix partial relief, finding the district court erred in allowing Mauritius-based shareholders of the liquidated Devas Multimedia to register the judgment and seize Antrix properties in the US.
The appeals court sent the enforceability question back to the district court after Indian courts set the award aside — the Delhi High Court in 2022, confirmed in 2023 — with India's Supreme Court declining to interfere.
- Who
- The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (opinion by Judge Lucy H Koh) ruled on the dispute between Devas Multimedia, the now-liquidated startup, and Antrix Corp, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
- What
- The Ninth Circuit upheld the US confirmation of an ICC arbitration award against Antrix over a failed 2005 satellite deal, an award now worth over $1.2 billion with interest, while sending the question of India's annulment of the award back to the district court.
- Where
- In the United States — before the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the federal court for the Western District of Washington; the underlying 2005 deal involved India, and Devas was based in Bengaluru.
- When
- The Ninth Circuit's opinion was provided on August 12; the ICC award came in September 2015, the US district court confirmed it on October 27, 2020, and the US Supreme Court ruled on June 5, 2025.
- Why
- Because the court found Antrix is not immune from arbitration enforcement under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, since the award is governed by the New York Convention and Antrix agreed it could be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction; the dispute began when India cancelled the February 2011 satellite deal.
Devas Multimedia and its investors
Antrix Corp and the Indian government
US courts' jurisdiction
Devas Multimedia and its investors
US courts properly have jurisdiction because the FSIA's arbitration exception applies to awards covered by the New York Convention, and Antrix agreed an award could be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction.
Antrix Corp and the Indian government
The case should have been decided in India; Antrix argued it should have some business presence in the US to be sued there and that the suit should be dismissed under forum non conveniens.
Enforceability of the award
Devas Multimedia and its investors
The ICC award of around $565 million is valid and enforceable in the United States.
Antrix Corp and the Indian government
There is no longer an award to enforce because the Delhi High Court set it aside, a decision affirmed by the Indian Supreme Court.
Nature of the 2005 satellite deal
Devas Multimedia and its investors
The 2005 deal was a legitimate commercial agreement, and Devas and its foreign investors deserve compensation after it was cancelled.
Antrix Corp and the Indian government
The deal was a 'sweetheart deal' cited as an instance of corruption after the 2G telecom scam, so the government was justified in cancelling it to reserve spectrum for security purposes.
Key facts
- Compensation award
- $562.5 million by an ICC tribunal in September 2015; one account reports $565.2 million
- Value with interest
- Over $1.2 billion; one account says the judgment rose to about $1.3 billion, and Devas counsel says it has crossed $2 billion
- Arbitration body
- International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
- Original agreement
- January 2005 deal to build, launch and operate two satellites and lease 70 MHz of S-band spectrum to Devas for 12 years at Rs 167 crore
- Deal cancellation
- February 2011 by the UPA government, citing the need to reserve spectrum for security purposes
- Indian annulment
- Delhi High Court set aside the award in 2022; India's Supreme Court declined to interfere on October 6, 2023
- Related awards
- $101 million for Deutsche Telekom (Permanent Court of Arbitration, Geneva) and $111 million for Mauritius investors (UNCITRAL)
- Devas liquidation
- Ordered by the National Company Law Tribunal on May 25, 2021; upheld by India's Supreme Court on January 17, 2022
Quotes
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Supreme Court decision
“"Antrix’s alternative arguments that the Fifth Amendment itself requires a showing of minimum contacts, that the claims at issue do not fall within the FSIA’s arbitration exception, and that the suit should be dismissed under forum non conveniens were not addressed below by the Ninth Circuit."”
indianexpress.com
“"Antrix is wholly owned by India, and India is a signatory to the New York Convention, which provides for enforcement in the courts of any country in which the treaty is in force."”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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