ISRO likely to purchase first insurance policy for satellite

According to the information from sources, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is eyeing to buy its first insurance policy for a domestically launched space satellite, the first since it began launching satellites in 1975. There can be two factors which are expected to have been influencing ISRO to begin buying satellite insurance. Firstly, there is an unexpected setback in Project Chandrayaan-2, which cost nearly INR10 billion (US$139.4 million). Secondly, there is the success of ISRO’s Mars mission, which brought down reinsurance rates for Indian space exploration activities. While ISRO has not insured launches conducted on Indian soil, it has typically insured launches done in partnership with other countries, such as Russia and the US. New India Assurance and other state-owned insurers were typically those tapped to provide cover for these projects, with reinsurance from the international market.