Kosmos 954 - Aftermath

Aftermath

Under the terms of the 1972 Space Liability Convention, a state which launches an object into space is liable for damages caused by that object. For the recovery efforts, the Canadian government billed the Soviet Union $6,041,174.70 for actual expenses and additional compensation for future unpredicted expenses; the U.S.S.R. eventually paid the sum of three million Canadian dollars.

Kosmos 954 was not the first nuclear powered RORSAT to fail; a launch of a similar satellite in 1973 failed, dropping its reactor into the Pacific north of Japan. Kosmos 1402 also failed, dropping its reactor into the South Atlantic in 1983. Subsequent RORSATs were equipped with a backup core ejection mechanism - when the primary failed on Kosmos 1900 in 1988 this system succeeded in raising the core to a safe disposal orbit.

Similarly, "an anomalous event in November 1979 caused the (American SNAP-10A nuclear reactor-equipped) vehicle to begin shedding an eventual 50 pieces."