Service Still Down for Many Intelsat IS-4 Customers

Intelsat continues to work to restore service to customers using capacity on its IS-4 satellite, following a problem with its backup satellite central processing unit (CD Feb 3 p12), a company spokeswoman said. Service to some customers has been restored, she said. The satellite, which hosts a mix of network services and media customers over 16 Ku-band transponders, shut down its communications payload to save battery power, she said. Intelsat was planning to take the satellite out of service later this year. As is often the case with satellites nearing their end of life, IS-4 isn’t covered by insurance.

IS-4 was the third craft in a week to experience technical problems and interrupt service. Despite the slew of recent satellite failures, there will likely be little or no effect on insurance rates, said Mark Quinn, senior vice president for satellite insurance brokerage Willis Inspace. The satellites that experienced problems in addition to IS-4 -- Satelites Mexicanos’ Satmex 5 (CD Feb 2 p 12) and Eutelsat’s W2 (CD Jan 29 p14) -- were either uninsured or the problems weren’t covered by existing insurance, he said.

Past profits of the space insurance industry soften the blows of the succession of failures, Quinn said. Profit earned in the last seven of eight years has allowed some wiggle room in setting insurance rates, he said. “There is a substantial profitability reserve in the market to enable it to absorb some losses before there are significant” changes in the industry and to satellite insurance rates, Quinn said.

Because some of the failing components on the satellites have had prior problems, their failures are even less likely to impact the satellite insurance industry overall or even elicit investigations into the satellite’s makers or their models, Quinn said. “This was not new information. I wouldn’t say [the failures] were expected, but this has happened before.”

Major insured losses are what cause changes in the market, another satellite insurance industry executive said. “I wouldn’t see this causing a ripple.” He was referring to the group of satellites experiencing problems. If similar communications satellites continue to experience anomalies or fail, “certain circles will begin to talk,” but it will take a loss before the industry really takes notice, he said.