Maybe the Air Force doesn't want to provide the insurer with sufficient information about the payload to make a reasonable underwriting decision? Insurance als

Maybe the Air Force doesn't want to provide the insurer with sufficient information about the payload to make a reasonable underwriting decision? Insurance also doesn't come free. The US government can also take on more risk than any particular insurer, so by purchasing those contracts would be in effect wasting taxpayer money. The consequences of something like a failed launch can be hard to quantify economically. There is clearly opportunity cost for missed intelligence not having the satellite in orbit when it is needed. What happens if the satellite crashes in an unfriendly place, losing the exclusivity to a bit of technology could be very damaging as well. I think you would find it hard to place a particular insurable value on those; but minimizing that risk obviously costs money. How much that risk minimization is worth is a question that I can't answer.