Orbcomm has stated that it has filed a notice of claim for a total loss under its launch insurance policy following the deployment of its OG2 prototype satellite to a lower orbit. The satellite was consequently deorbited following the completion of a…
Orbcomm has stated that it has filed a notice of claim for a total loss under its launch insurance policy following the deployment of its OG2 prototype satellite to a lower orbit. The satellite was consequently deorbited following the completion of a series of system tests.
The total sum insured was US$10m and underwriter Chartis provided the entire cover.
Some underwriters have puzzled over the structure of the policy given that the satellite ostensibly achieved its mission of carrying out certain functionality tests and SpaceX had always informed Orbcomm of the pre-imposed safety check required by NASA.
Despite the secondary payload problem, the market’s view of SpaceX remains relatively sanguine. The success of its primary payload has gone down well with insurers and if anything the redundancy of the rocket’s design following the failure of one of the Merlin engines has bolstered the company’s reputation.
However, with a growing manifest of commercial GTO launches on the horizon, insurers are still uncertain how to price the Falcon 9.
“A lot of underwriters like to base their prices on launches that have occurred. You can’t do this with SpaceX so you have to assume some sort of failure rate. And this is pretty much guesswork,” commented one source.
The source suggested that a number of insurers would likely put out a smaller line on any placement in order to reduce their exposure.
