EVEN rocket science isn’t rocket science any more. The number of launch
vehicles goes up and up, but somehow the technology isn’t keeping pace. A
devastating analysis from French insurance firm AGF says that new rocket designs
are less reliable than they were 20 years ago, when commercial satellite
launchers first became big business.
Satellite television, satellite telephones and wireless Internet all add up
to a burgeoning demand for space launches. The number of different types of
rocket available on the multibillion-dollar commercial launch market has
quadrupled over the past two decades. But despite advances in propulsion
technology and the…
