Life in space is getting messy. As ultra-cheap satellites flood low Earth orbit, more of them are crashing apart and often they aren’t insured. In October 2024, a $500 million satellite, Intelsat‑33e, exploded over the Indian Ocean. Its debris, hundreds of fragments, now float above us, adding to about 14,000 tons of orbital junk. And despite its high value, it carried no insurance after launch.

Why so many uninsured satellites? Launch costs have dropped dramatically thanks to reusable rockets and cheaper manufacturing, while insurance for satellites has become prohibitively expensive. As a result, operators opt to self-insure or go without, which means broken satellites don’t trigger payouts or cleanup. Even more concerning, some governments require insurance while others don’t, creating uneven risks across the industry.

The fallout from this collision course includes major safety threats. Space is becoming crowded, and every fragment can smash functioning satellites or endanger the ISS. Worse, the cause of a satellite’s failure is often impossible to trace, making liability almost impossible to determine. Insurance can’t cover what it can’t track.

Experts say the solution lies in clear regulations and advanced tracking systems to monitor debris in real time. Unless that happens, satellite operators will keep launching on the cheap, insurance will stay sidelined, and space will become increasingly clogged, potentially making future orbital activity dangerous or impossible.