Electric propulsion failure
The failure, often gradual, of a satellite's electric or ion propulsion, which shortens its service life without destroying the spacecraft.
March 2015: ABS-3A and Eutelsat 115 West B, two Boeing 702SP spacecraft launched together on a Falcon 9, become the first all-electric commercial satellites, and they spend several months climbing to geostationary orbit on their thrusters alone. On these platforms, electric or ion propulsion keeps the satellite on station and performs its orbit maneuvers. When it fails, completely or partially, it rarely looks like an explosion. A leaking valve or a wearing cathode cuts maneuvering capability without stopping service, and what shrinks is the planned operational life, sometimes sharply. The technology is lighter and far more frugal with propellant than chemical propulsion. It also has fewer years of flight heritage, and space underwriters and operators have watched it closely since several manufacturers adopted it. The claim is therefore usually settled as a partial loss, on the useful life lost. Sizing it means modeling a degradation curve rather than pointing to a dated event, and that curve is where the loss adjusters argue. A defect found in one component can also hit every satellite of the same technical family, so the accumulation runs by product line, not by launch batch.
Textbook case: an all-electric geostationary satellite, insured in orbit for a fifteen-year life, loses one of its four thrusters in year four. The other three can still keep it on station but burn more xenon, and the operator moves planned end of life from year fifteen to year eleven. The satellite still serves its customers, so the claim is settled as a partial loss under the policy formula, and the adjusters argue over the propellant curve more than over the failure itself.
electric propulsion failure, ion thruster failure, thruster failure, propulsion valve fault
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