Crappy Craft Crock Company

Transport correspondent Perry Patetik reports from Crius. Spacecraft manufacturing titan Despro has folded, following a series of massive insurance pay-outs. The blame for the disaster, which has rocked the whole industry, can be laid at the feet of one man: materials clerk Augustus Higgins. It was Higgins' job to procure Iridum, a powerful anti-corrosive substance used in the manufacture of hulls for space-going craft. Higgin's carelessness resulted in Gallium, by contrast a very easily corroded metal, being substituted in the manufacture of 20 Burro-class cargo ships. 18 of these craft have crashed or exploded, resulting in over 130 deaths. Despro's stocks of Iridum are being sold off cheaply to pay damages claims.