A roughly $600 million windfall will flow into the state’s General Fund this fiscal year from tobacco companies, the result of a new agreement Attorney General Andrea Campbell struck to resolve seven years worth of disputes stemming from payments owed under the 1998 nationwide tobacco settlement.

In addition to the $600 million coming in fiscal 2025, Campbell’s office said the deal also requires tobacco companies to “make additional payments totaling tens of millions of dollars each year going forward.”

The agreement stems from arbitration related to the 1998 master settlement agreement that banned many tobacco ads and required annual payments to 51 states and territories to offset medical costs caused by smoking.

Though Massachusetts received between $100 million and $315 million through the settlement each year, the AG said certain manufacturers withheld funds due to a contractual adjustment, leaving in dispute hundreds of millions of dollars. Those disputes led to arbitration and this week’s  settlement.

Astronauts’ fate still up in the air

NASA says it’s still deciding whether to keep two astronauts at the International Space Station until early next year and send their troubled Boeing capsule back empty.

Officials said Wednesday they’re analyzing more data before making a decision by the end of next week or beginning of the next.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were supposed to stay at the space station for a week when they rocketed away in June as Starliner’s first crew. But thruster failures and helium leaks marred the capsule’s trip there, raising doubts about its ability to return safely.

Rather than flying Boeing’s Starliner back to Earth, the astronauts would catch a ride on a SpaceX flight in February.