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Some yeas ago, when Optus had it's first comms satellites ready for launch I was talking to an Optus engineer (I was with Telstra at the time) about the costs of such activities. He told me that a big part of the cost was insuring it - and that satellite insurance was basically equal to one third of the production/launch cost total. Reason being according to him that roughly 1 in 3 satellites launched by "cheaper carriers" if I can use that phrase either blow up, crash, etc - his words, not mine.
Interesting development: some of you may remember that after the launch of the 2nd (I think it was the "B" satellite) Optus comms sat prior to the launch vehicle achieving orbit it simply disappeared off radar, reason unknown & unproven - until they found some fuel tank remains floating in the ocean some time later, ID numbers proved them to be from the same vehicle.
This guy was right - one in 3 crashed!
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