Reusable launcher insurance

March 30, 2017: SES-10 lifts off on a Falcon 9 first stage that had flown before, a first for an orbital stage recovered by landing. Reusable launcher insurance covers the launch risk of rockets whose first stage, or even the fairing, is recovered and reflown on later missions instead of being destroyed on every flight. This model changes the statistical record that pricing relies on. The same physical stage piles up flight cycles, and its reliability could in theory degrade with wear, or improve as refurbishment procedures mature. Only a long enough flight history can settle which. Early in a reuse program, insurers lack data on the practice and tend to charge a caution premium, even for launchers whose expendable version was already well proven. As successful flights on recycled stages accumulate, the risk premium tied to reuse tends to shrink toward that of a conventional launch, or even below it if the demonstrated success rate beats the expendable fleet's. Pricing here follows an explicit learning curve rather than a loss rate that holds steady over time.