Scrap aging satellites, say insurers
October 16, 2017
By Chris Forrester
Satellite operators are wrong to wring every last dollars-worth of revenue out of aging satellites, suggested insurance experts at the Tokyo meeting of the Asia-Pacific Satellite Communications Council (APSCC). Operators needed to be more prudent, said underwriters, in order to reduce catastrophic failures.
Delegates heard a list of unfortunate failures this past 12 months, including: Chinasat 5A; AMC-9; NSS-806; EchoStar 3 and Telkom 1
The meeting was told that four out of these five satellites were Lockheed Martin A2100 models, and were being used beyond their 15-year design life, although there are other A2100 satellites in orbit which were still performing beyond their design life.