Re:ULA bows out of Pentagon launch competition, paving way f...
by rory096 on Wednesday November 18, 2015 @11:23AM
(#10588642)
>NASA self-insures
This just means they don't insure and instead absorb losses. AFAIK they don't even set aside a pool of money like corporate self-insurance tends to do.
>CRS missions appear to carry commercial insurance
This is to (partially) cover the losses to the commercial space companies, since NASA withholds money in the event of a failure. None of it covers the payload. (Actually at least in Orbital's case they get paid a portion of the CRS contract, since there's technically two milestones – ignition/liftoff and mission success. They lose out on the latter.[1])
This just means they don't insure and instead absorb losses. AFAIK they don't even set aside a pool of money like corporate self-insurance tends to do.
>CRS missions appear to carry commercial insurance
This is to (partially) cover the losses to the commercial space companies, since NASA withholds money in the event of a failure. None of it covers the payload. (Actually at least in Orbital's case they get paid a portion of the CRS contract, since there's technically two milestones – ignition/liftoff and mission success. They lose out on the latter.[1])
[1] http://spacenews.com/42658orbital-sciences-entitled-to-parti...