OREANDA-NEWS. February 02, 2010. Ingosstrakh OJSIC and the FSUE ‘Space Communications’ have entered into an insurance contract against risks related to the on-orbit operation of Express-АМ1, Express-АМ2, Express-АМ3, Express-АМ22, Express-АМ33, Express-АМ44 and Express-МD1 spacecrafts. The insured amount under the contract exceeds 9 billion rubles.

According to Nikolay Galushin, Deputy Director General of Ingosstrakh OJSIC, insurance of the orbital group of spacecrafts is one of the most complicated and risky types of the space risk insurance.  To perform operations in the space insurance area, it is necessary to have a relevant qualification, expertise, established relations with the reinsurance markets and approaches to the loss adjustment. Various subsystems may fail in the course of the spacecraft operation, and it may result in occurrence of the insured event, that is why our specialists have to consider many factors influencing reliability of the items, when they accept them for the insurance.

Ingosstrakh OJSIC has a vast experience of the loss insurance and adjustment with respect to the risks of the spacecraft on-orbit operation. The loss of the Coupon spacecraft owned by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in 1998 was one of the largest payments – the compensation amount exceeded USD 80 million.  In 2009 Ingosstrakh OJSIC paid an insurance compensation exceeding 1 billion rubles to the FSUE ‘Space Communications’.  The insured event was the partial destruction of the Express-АМ2 spacecraft, which occurred as a result of the anomaly in the operation of the sun battery tilting unit.

Ingosstrakh OJSIC is a traditional insurer of space risks of the FSUE ‘Space Communications’. Spacecrafts Horizon No 45, Express-А1, Express-А2, Express-А3, Express-АМ11, Express-АМ1, Express-АМ2, Express-АМ3, Express-АМ22, Express-АМ33, Express-АМ44 and Express-МD1 were insured by the company over many years of cooperation.