No nasa space launches now- partisan fighting and controversies prevent all funding Handberg 7-25

Insurance Turn

Insurance for space missions has developed and matured over the decades and is now routinely available for most missions, though only some are insured. Policies that cover accidental damage in the pre-launch phases; launch and a period in-orbit; and follow-on in-orbit insurance are taken out by those wanting to transfer their risk exposures to the insurance community. These include spacecraft manufacturers, spacecraft owner-operators, users of spacecraft payloads, and launch service providers. Liabilities to third parties can also be covered by insurance. National and international law (e.g. UN Treaties) determine such matters. Under the UN Liability Convention, the Launching State is ultimately liable. Through licensing and contracts the Launching State transfers its liabilities to the launch service providers and spacecraft owner-operators. In turn, these insure their own liabilities. The risk of space debris damage is included as one of many environmental hazards. In an insurance context, space debris includes man-made objects/fragments, and naturally occurring objects, both in-orbit and entering/re-entering to earth. It also includes debris from launchers and stages that explode or otherwise do not reach orbit. All objects of whatever origin can cause damage or injury as they return through air-space to land or sea. While there have been instances of debris impact on spacecraft in-orbit, so far, none has resulted in an insured loss. Insurance is a reactive enterprise, and if a total loss claim attributed to debris impact were to arrive in the market, it would adversely affect the cost and availability of insurance. Tracing the cause (debris impact) to a particular man-made space object is difficult, but not impossible. If done successfully, this could result in a claim against the Launching State of that object. Insurers always stay aware of the extent and the orbital distribution of space debris, as well as the possibility that debris damage may be traceable to an identifiable man-made object. Their stance is to keep an informed watching brief on the subject.

INSURANCE Increased space debris will eventually affect the cost of insurance for space operations. Insurance for space operations falls into one of two categories. The first type compensates a satellite owner or operator for the loss of a functional satellite and covers different phases of a satellite's life. The most common insurance of this type provides coverage for the phases of launch-in-orbit commissioning and in-orbit life. In a typical policy, 25% of the premium covers the launch and 75% applies to the remainder of the satellite's operational life. Many satellites undoubtedly fail due to design or operational reasons unrelated to orbital debris, but some satellites do collide with orbital debris. Thus, insurance underwriters will eventually have to consider debris when setting insurance premiums for a satellite’s operational phase. The insurance market changes rapidly in response to launch successes and launch failures, even though launch coverage makes up only 25% of the premiums. Similarly, as the risk of collision with orbital debris increases, insurance underwriters will undoubtedly pay attention to the trend and respond by increasing premiums or excluding damage caused by orbital debris from their policies.