Recent studies by ourselves and some insurance underwriters have examined the failure rates of launch vehicles for maiden and early flights of both new and radically altered rockets - in AGF's study the first five flights of each rocket were considered. We came to the conclusion We came to the conclusion that, apart from direct conversions of military missile systems, maiden and early flights were inherently risky, with maiden failure rates in the 40-50 per cent region. This is a much higher record than the standard 'all-cause failure rate' of all rocket launches to Geostationary Orbit (GEO), which is approximately 14-15 per cent. And what about sat- ellites? AGF has carried out a study of the first flights of major bus designs in order to establish whether there is a worsening trend with modern satellite designs.
展开▼
