The satellite industry would seem to have nearly a billion reasons to embrace satellite servicing. Space insurers are bracing for as much as $1 billion in claims this year, the majority of which coming from two high-profile failures of new satellites, ViaSat-3 Americas and Inmarsat-6 F2. Those incidents would appear to show the benefits of being able to repair satellites in orbit rather than writing them off as total or near-total losses.

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Jeff Foust writes about space policy, commercial space, and related topics for SpaceNews. He earned a Ph.D. in planetary sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree with honors in geophysics and planetary science...