Charter Space and Project Omega Partner on Nuclear Power for Satellite Insurance

Charter Space Technologies and Project Omega announced on 20 October a collaboration to assess whether long-duration nuclear power systems can lower spacecraft failure rates and enhance the insurability of commercial space missions. The partnership, disclosed from El Segundo, California, represents the first publicly known initiative connecting radioisotope battery technology to spacecraft underwriting and lifecycle economics.

Charter operates as a specialty insurance brokerage and underwriting technology firm concentrating on space, nuclear and defence risks. Project Omega builds power systems from recycled nuclear fuel, capable of generating electricity for decades without sunlight, refuelling or recharging.

Power failure ranks among the primary causes of spacecraft loss. Industry figures referenced by the companies indicate that as many as one in three CubeSats fail during their first 100 days in orbit, while commercial smallsats experience loss rates exceeding 4% within their first year, with power and communications the dominant failure modes. Larger missions also face risks: the Inmarsat-6 and GSAT-6A satellites, along with JAXA's Omotenashi on the Artemis I mission, all suffered power failures.

For underwriters, a continuous, solar-independent power source fundamentally alters the risk profile. A spacecraft that can endure an eclipse, solar storm or extended lunar night without losing telemetry is significantly less likely to become a total loss from what might otherwise be a recoverable incident.

Many missions still depend on power architectures with vulnerabilities that can turn a recoverable anomaly into a total loss.

Dr Stafford Sheehan, founder and chief executive of Project Omega, explained that his company aims to extend both mission life and mission economics. The partnership will also examine a concept the firms call a Survival Telemetry and Recovery Module, functioning like an aviation flight data recorder: an independently powered beacon transmitting even if primary spacecraft systems fail. This could provide operators and insurers clearer insight into loss causes and inform future design improvements.

The convergence of space insurance and nuclear power technology operates at the intersection of multiple regulatory frameworks. In the United States, radioisotope power systems for commercial spacecraft require export-control clearance under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and, depending on the fissile material, licensing from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration for launch. The regulatory pathway for commercial nuclear power in orbit remains under development, suggesting the partnership's near-term deliverable will likely be a feasibility study rather than a deployed system.

Within the insurance sector, the London market and Lloyd's syndicates have traditionally served as primary underwriters for satellite risk, but capacity and appetite have contracted as commercial launch frequency has risen and loss experience has accumulated. Charter's focus as a technology-driven underwriter for national-security-adjacent assets reflects a wider trend of specialist managing general agents entering segments where established markets lack the technical expertise to price risk accurately.

The partnership announcement does not include disclosed funding terms, a timeline for deliverables or named satellite operators as prospective customers. The critical next milestone is whether the feasibility study generates actuarial data that third-party reinsurers can utilise to construct pricing models for nuclear-powered spacecraft, which would mark the initial step toward a commercially viable insurance product in this segment.