PARIS— June 1’s successful Ariane 5 launch was a key event for the 2018 revenue of the two customers, ViaSat Inc. and Eutelsat and a huge relief for space insurance underwriters.

At $786 million, the Ariane 5 mission carried the most insurance ever provided for a single launch. The ViaSat-2 Ka-band broadband satellite was insured for $545 million, which might not have been enough to cover the satellite’s loss. Eutelsat’s 172B was insured for $241 million.

With insurance premiums continuing to fall as more . . .

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