The recent cancellation of three geostationary satellites is another blow for insurers hoping their legacy cash cows would bring home much-needed income following a bruising run of claims.
SES disclosed in May it did not need the IS-41 and IS-44 satellites that Intelsat ordered before being acquired by the Luxembourg-based fleet operator last year.
A month earlier, French rival Eutelsat said it was canceling the Flexsat Americas satellite to prioritize cash for its low Earth orbit (LEO) OneWeb constellation.
All three satellites were ordered in 2022 from Europe’s Thales Alenia Space and had been slated for geostationary orbit (GEO) in the next two years.
Like other commercial operators, SES and Eutelsat tend to insure GEO satellites before waving goodbye to equipment that typically costs around $300 million on the launchpad.
