22 ms·

Why wouldn't they obtain insurance for the total cost of the mishap?

Rebelgecko 10y ago
Losing a payload can have a domino effect of bad things that insurance doesn't cover. Kind of like how your car insurance won't pay for your lost income if you get in an accident and then get fired for missing work. Maybe the car analogy is a bit of a stretch, but look at Spacecom, whose Amos-6 satellite blew up during a static fire back in September (this wasn't actually covered by launch insurance, but Spacecom had separate insurance for anything that happens before the launch). Beyond the cost of a new satellite (covered by insurance) and a new launch (SpaceX is giving them one for free) Spacecom still has to provide coverage for their customers. The solution is to lease someone else's satellite for 4 years, which cost them $88 million [1]. On top of that, they were in the middle of selling the company for $285 million. The deal was contingent on the Amos-6 satellite being fully operational. Supposedly, the buyer only wants to pay $190 million now. They may also end up backing out. Someone else's launch going badly can also be bad for your company. The explosion that took out Amos-6 also damaged the pad and threw off SpaceX's schedule (which was already oversubscribed). Inmarsat was required by the EU to start using their spectrum by a given deadline, which they ended up missing. Theoretically, the EU could take away their spectrum allocation (although they probably won't). Inmarsat did end up having to buy a launch with another provider though, which probably cost them a ton of money[3]. [1] http://spacenews.com/spacecom-begins-service-with-a-borrowed-satellite-rebranded-amos-7/ http://spacenews.com/spacecom-begins-service-with-a-borrowed... [2] http://spacenews.com/spacecom-reports-lull-in-talks-with-chinese-buyer/ http://spacenews.com/spacecom-reports-lull-in-talks-with-chi... [3] http://www.theverge.com/2016/12/8/13883640/spacex-satellite-launch-inmarsat-arianespace-schedule-delay http://www.theverge.com/2016/12/8/13883640/spacex-satellite-...
- BHSPitMonkey 10y ago
  You can likely get car accident coverage that will cover anything you want, if you're willing to pay whatever premium your insurer decides is appropriate given your desired coverage amount and probability of a payout. These companies aren't buying off-the-shelf mass market insurance plans; it's up to their risk management people to figure out what the true cost of an accident is and negotiate appropriate coverage if they don't want to eat the risk themselves.

Losing a payload can have a domino effect of bad things that insurance doesn't cover. Kind of like how your car insurance won't pay for your lost income if you get in an accident and then get fired for missing work. Maybe the car analogy is a bit of a stretch, but look at Spacecom, whose Amos-6 satellite blew up during a static fire back in September (this wasn't actually covered by launch insurance, but Spacecom had separate insurance for anything that happens before the launch). Beyond the cost of a new satellite (covered by insurance) and a new launch (SpaceX is giving them one for free) Spacecom still has to provide coverage for their customers. The solution is to lease someone else's satellite for 4 years, which cost them $88 million [1]. On top of that, they were in the middle of selling the company for $285 million. The deal was contingent on the Amos-6 satellite being fully operational. Supposedly, the buyer only wants to pay $190 million now. They may also end up backing out. Someone else's launch going badly can also be bad for your company. The explosion that took out Amos-6 also damaged the pad and threw off SpaceX's schedule (which was already oversubscribed). Inmarsat was required by the EU to start using their spectrum by a given deadline, which they ended up missing. Theoretically, the EU could take away their spectrum allocation (although they probably won't). Inmarsat did end up having to buy a launch with another provider though, which probably cost them a ton of money[3]. [1] http://spacenews.com/spacecom-begins-service-with-a-borrowed-satellite-rebranded-amos-7/ http://spacenews.com/spacecom-begins-service-with-a-borrowed... [2] http://spacenews.com/spacecom-reports-lull-in-talks-with-chinese-buyer/ http://spacenews.com/spacecom-reports-lull-in-talks-with-chi... [3] http://www.theverge.com/2016/12/8/13883640/spacex-satellite-launch-inmarsat-arianespace-schedule-delay http://www.theverge.com/2016/12/8/13883640/spacex-satellite-...

BHSPitMonkey 10y ago
You can likely get car accident coverage that will cover anything you want, if you're willing to pay whatever premium your insurer decides is appropriate given your desired coverage amount and probability of a payout. These companies aren't buying off-the-shelf mass market insurance plans; it's up to their risk management people to figure out what the true cost of an accident is and negotiate appropriate coverage if they don't want to eat the risk themselves.