SES Americom announced on Friday that it will not attempt to salvage its AMC-14 communication satellite, which was stranded in a lopsided orbit on March 15 after a Proton M upper stage shut down prematurely. Instead, the company will file a $150 million insurance claim.
“SES and Lockheed Martin have carefully examined all the available options for repositioning this satellite into its intended geostationary orbit,” said Edward Horowitz, President and CEO of SES Americom. “Unfortunately, none of those options would allow effective use of the spacecraft. The various repositioning scenarios presented carry unacceptable risks, and would result in a severely shortened life of the satellite. Therefore, we have no choice but to claim a total loss of the satellite with our insurers.”
Lockheed Martin built the satellite, which SES had completely leased to EchoStar. The American satellite television provider will file a separate $42 million insurance claim for its losses.
Space News‘ Peter B. De Selding takes a look at the choices facing Luxembourg-based SES, which owns the AMC-14 telecommunications satellite stuck in a lopsided orbit on March 15 by the failure of a Proton-M upper stage.
The company could use on-board engines to send the spacecraft directly to a geosynchronous orbit. Or it could loop the satellite around the Moon in a gravity-assist maneuver. Either method could use a large amount of the spacecraft’s fuel, cutting into its planned 15-year lifetime.
SES could declare the satellite a total loss and collect on a $192 million insurance policy. However, that option has a significant drawback: SES had leased the AMC-14 spacecraft entirely to satellite-television provider EchoStar of Littleton, Colo. As a result, SES would lose a significant revenue stream.
In a related story, Jeff Foust examines the Proton failure and the broader outlook for the launcher market over at The Space Review. Foust says SES might pursue both options, raising the AMC-14 to a geosynchronous orbit and filing an insurance claim based on the spacecraft’s reduced lifetime.
Foust reports that rocket providers are struggling to keep up with rising demand, which is driving up launch costs. In addition, insurance costs are rising due to a number of recent launch mishaps. The Proton has experienced three failures in the last two years and will likely be grounded for some time. The solution might be to get more launch providers into the market.
