Satellite operator Eutelsat has provided an update on its stricken EUTELSAT 5 West B geostationary satellite, saying that it expects a roughly 55% loss of capacity or function, which could equate to a roughly $106 million claim under a launch-plus-one-year insurance policy.
We were EUTELSAT 5 West B experienced a potential malfunction related to a solar array ,which industry insiders said at the time suggested it may not have extended fully, or even at all, when the satellite reached its initial orbit.
The satellite was launched successfully on October 10th 2019 and passed all its immediate systems checks, but the malfunctioning solar array was reported on October 24th.
Eutelsat then responded to our enquiry, explaining that the satellite is fully covered by insurance should a loss occur, with no retention before the claim would kick in to the satellite operators benefit.
This launch-plus-one-year satellite insurance policy provided Eutelsat with roughly US $192 million of coverage, with no retention.
Now, Eutelsat has revealed that the 5 West B geostationary satellite has experienced a roughly 55% loss of capacity because of the issues it faced.
This issue it transpires was the complete loss the satellite’s South solar array, now confirmed by Eutelsat. Aside from that the satellite is operating nominally, the company explained.
The company says the 5 West B satellite will enter commercial service later this month and Eutelsat says it is expected to meet its designed life time, while it will attempt to mitigate the loss of capacity if it can.
The company told us, in response to our enquiry, that EUTELSAT 5 West B is fully insured against both a partial or a total loss by the launch-plus-one-year insurance, which provides coverage of up to 173 million euros (US $192m).
Because of this, the company spokesperson told us that while it remains too early to give a precise figure for the expected insurance reimbursement, any claim is expected to be globally consistent with the loss of capacity.
At a roughly 55% loss of capacity that could equate to an insurance recovery under the satellite policy of around US $106 million, adding to losses that the space insurance and reinsurance market has faced in recent months.
While this is the anticipated space insurance market loss from the vehicle’s launch policy, it’s not immediately clear whether Eutelsat could have any more coverage for the satellite loss of performance through business interruption or any other policies it may have in-force.
