AAC Clyde Space has announced that the company has received payment for an insurance claim on Kelpie-1 valued at approximately 13.5 million Swedish Krona. The claim was triggered by the satellite payload delivering less data then expected, not meeting key performance indicators. The claim has been paid in full by the insurers.
Kelpie-1 was launched in January of 2023 to provide AIS data under a Space Data as a Service contract. The satellite has performed nominally since separation from the ION orbital maneuvering vehicle in March of 2023 but an issue with the payload has limited data gathering, resulting in reduced data output from the satellite. Extensive attempts at improving the performance of the payload were not successful and as it did not meet the minimum defined capability, the insurance was activated. The satellite remains operational on-orbit.
The expected net margin from the satellite for the period 2024 to 2027 was approximately 15.0 million Swedish Krona. It is expected that the company will be able to back fill the lost capacity with new satellites currently under construction that are to be launched later in 2024.