RUSSIA/ SPACE INSURANCE.

The Russian Space Agency and the British Sedgwick Aviation Ltd., a world leading insurance broker, have signed an agreement on consultations and broker operations in the insurance of space risks in Russia, the Space Agency’s Deputy General Director Yuri Milov told Interfax on November 3. In his words, not a single spacecraft nor over 2,000 launches of rocket-boosters have been fully insured in Russia or the former Soviet Union. Now that the space market is forming, the state cannot and will not compensate losses from spacecraft accidents and other emergencies, said Milov. (6)

Private Russian insurance companies lack the capital to insure space exploration and there is no federal insurance agency. The Sedgwick Aviation Ltd. presumably will help find foreign partners for insuring western satellite launches by Russian rocket-boosters, including Proton, Soyuz, Molniya, Rokot and Start. Also insured will be the scientific and research equipment placed on board spacecraft, distant earth probing services, and the lives of cosmonauts. The agreement is important because Russia has the expertise and experience to be an important player in the developing commercial space launch business.

Ukraine/Space.