For several years observers have said there's an oversupply of launch vehicles, that it's a buyer's market and prices will drop across the board. But the numbers don't bear that out. If price were the only factor, then you'd see the number of contracts spread out fairly evenly among all the players. The consensus in the industry is that demand will likely remain flat at 25-30 launches annually for the next several years. The companies that will not only survive but thrive will offer schedule assurance, reliability and excellent customer service as well as competitive pricing.
Competition is good for the industry.
And this is good, because especially in the area of satellite communications, we must offer a competitive solution to terrestrial. That being said, there is an over supply of launch vehicles in today s market that has directly affected some of the newer ventures. I think this will continue for the next several years, and we will likely see some further consolidation. Insurance rates are tightly tied to the overall reliability of each launch vehicle. For launch vehicles like the Delta 2, there has not been a significant change in the rates.