PSLV-C62 failure exposes major insurance gap for India’s private space startups
The failure of ISRO's PSLV-C62 mission has revealed that none of the Indian private satellites onboard were insured. The incident has highlighted policy and market gaps as India's private space sector expands.
New Delhi: The collapse of the PSLV-C62-EOS-N1 mission of ISRO has revealed a major weakness of the Indian system of private space; none of the Indian private satellites on board had insurance. It was launched at 10:18 am on January 12 off the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota and failed just after liftoff, causing the loss of several commercial payloads.
With increased involvement of the private sector in the space sector of India, the incident has brought back discussion on lack of satellite insurance schemes. Industry commentators indicate that the problem is indicative of more fundamental policy and market voids, particularly with the increased frequency of commercial launches under the liberalised space regime in the country.
No Indian privateload insurance
Indian private insurers, according to the industry officials, are not now providing affordable and structured insurance cover on satellites launched in the country. This was the reason why the Indian private satellites in the failed mission were not insured.
One of the officials of the Indian Space Research Organisation mentioned that satellite insurance was never a serious topic during the times when the launches were reduced to government missions. In the past, satellites were constructed and launched as objects of state usage and thus ensuring did not appear to be a necessity. The same legacy mode, authorities acknowledge, has persisted despite the entry of privates into the industry.
The PSLV-C62 accident was the first failure of the PSLV mission with commercial satellites on board, which increased startups and investor anxiety.
NSIL distances itself from insurance responsibility
New Space India ltd, being the commercial arm of the ISRO, officials explained that insurance is not their concern. According to them, satellite operators will have to do their own insurance as is customary with foreign partners of ISRO.
The role of NSIL, according to the officials, is to give the platform of launch and take care of the agreements. The owners of the satellites are still required to protect the assets and the insurance act is one of these mechanisms.
Interestingly, ISRO has a routine of ensuring its satellites to be launched in foreign soil and there has been no policy on the same with launches in India.
Space policy review brings insurance into focus
This has become a pressing concern with the new policy of space there being finalised by India. The officials of the Ministry of Space stated that there are talks regarding the mandatory insurance of satellites.
Officials believe that the insurance norms are necessary in order to provide the sector with long-term stability. The absence of safeguards may only mean that one failure costs start-ups with low capital bases.
The situation is termed as a classic chicken-and-egg problem by the private space companies. The premiums of insurance might be up to half the value of a satellite, and thus cover is unaffordable to smaller companies. Most people trusted in the history of the ISRO rather.
In the losses there was one payload to be made. Spanish space company Orbital Paradigm announced that its re-entry capsule, Kestrel Initial Demonstrator (KID), was able to detach itself from the launcher and send back data to Earth.
The capsule of 25 kg is a prototype of a future system that will carry back payloads in orbit. Its existence was the only win in a very dismal venture towards the expansion of the Indian privatized space industry.