An Ariane 5 rocket lifts off from the French Guiana Space Center with two satellites onboard ViaSat-2, built by Boeing Satellite Systems for the American operator ViaSat Inc and EUTELSAT 172B, built by Airbus Defence and Space for the French operator Eutelsat, in Kourou, French Guiana on June 1, 2017.
Space insurers are now complaining about the rising insurance claims from internet satellite service providers.
Because of these, they said that they will be cautious when it comes to servicing satellites.
This was announced by WTW Global Inspace Chief Executive Mark Quinn during the Global Satellite Servicing Forum, which happened on Thursday, Oct. 12.
Space Insurers Complain About Rising Insurance Claims
According to Space News' latest report, Quinn warned that high-profile satellite malfunctions and other similar problems in satellite service providers could result in a major loss for the space insurance market this 2023.
"It's the worst market we've been in in the last 20 years," said the space insurance broker chief executive.
"In the last six months there's been about $1 billion in claims against about $500 million in premiums," added Mark Quinn.
Due to this ongoing issue, the WTW Global Inspace leader said that space insurers are forced to become cautious when servicing satellites.
This means that when satellite companies are applying for insurance, they could be required to provide in-flight demonstrations and other flight-proven innovations, although these are hard to conduct.
Quinn explained that as space insurance claims further increase, internet satellite providers need to make an effort to ensure that insurers will be comfortable with their technologies.
But, he clarified that getting the trust of space insurers would be a long process. Quinn explained that the "key" is a multi-year, multi-touch effort where internet satellite companies engage more with the insurance community.
He added that if these aerospace firms do this, they could become true partners of space insurance providers.
Read Also: SpaceX Details Plans for Starlink's Satellite Cell Service Set To Launch in 2024
Previous Space Insurance Claims
Starlink satellite antennas are seen at the Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA), the international trade show for consumer electronics and home appliances, on August 31, 2023 during a preview at the fair grounds in Berlin. Starlink is a satellite internet provider operated by Elon Musk's American aerospace company SpaceX.
CNBC reported that Viasat's ViaSat-3 Americas satellite previously malfunctioned. This was disclosed by the aerospace company back in July.
Viasat explained that the issue occurred when they were deploying the reflector of the satellite's antenna.
On Thursday, Oct. 12, the American satellite broadband service provider said that they could recover less than 10% of the satellite's planned communications capability.
Aside from this, Viasat also announced that they are expecting to finalize a $420 million insurance claim before 2023 ends in order to fix the issue of its ViaSat-3 Americas satellite.
The satellite firm also confirmed that it plans to make another $348 million insurance claim for its I6 F2 backup satellite, which experienced a power system malfunction in August.
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