Sciemus has collaborated with defence-expert QinetiQ to develop a mathematical model that analyses how risky space missions are.
It took two years and 40 scientists to complete the model, known as Spacerat, a tool that reduces satellite risk-analysis time from months to minutes and has since saved some satellite operators an estimated 30 per cent in insurance costs.
Three years on, Sciemus's Spacerat model has been used to underwrite more than 130 satellites and assists operators with risk-analysis data when seeking financial backing.
Neil Fleming, co-founder and chief technology officer of Sciemus, said: 'Satellite reliability varies widely, depending on the quality of parts used, the manufacture and testing processes and the operational processes.
'Understanding satellite risk is important for any party with an interest in satellite capability.
'Before Spacerat, operators were effectively subsidising their competitors because it was so difficult to differentiate between high and low risk within the space sector.
'Our space model allows our insurance partner, Liberty Syndicates, to price according to the actual risk of failure, meaning significant cost savings for technically superior operators.' Spacerat provides a detailed understanding of the probability of satellite failure and the impact of such failures both during launch and through life.
This is achieved through the combination of highly sophisticated analytical models with three decades of comprehensive data from previously flown space missions and current information drawn from the Spacerat database or input directly by the user.
Spacerat uses the available information to assess the risk to any spacecraft.
It highlights areas that may carry specific concerns given the history of that spacecraft, or its individual components.
The model received glowing praise following a PwC assessment: 'Back testing results show all of the past 11 years of market experience fall within a 95 per cent confidence interval based on results provided by Spacerat for failures in the market.
'Spacerat provides valuable estimates of satellite-failure risks - a significant risk for securitisation structures of in-orbit satellite cash flows.' Inmarsat was the first space operator to use Spacerat, which it did on its I-4 satellites.
