The Alaska Aerospace Corp. is suing an aviation insurance group for the roughly $3 million it spent cleaning up damages after a rocket was destroyed in a fire at the Kodiak Island spaceport last year.
That’s according to federal court documents Alaska Aerospace filed Feb. 13 against U.S. Aviation Underwriters Inc. and its managing entity, the U.S. Aircraft Insurance Group or USAIG.
Last summer in July 2024, California-based ABL Space Systems was doing a test on its RS1 rocket, in preparation for its planned launch from the state-owned spaceport near Narrow Cape. The test involved putting some aviation fuel into the rocket and igniting at least one of the engines, but a fire damaged the rocket beyond repair.
The blaze also caused 1,800 gallons of aviation fuel and other contaminants to spill at the spaceport, according to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. The department said Alaska Aerospace is responsible for the cleanup, which is still continuing this week.
Alaska Aerospace said in its lawsuit against the insurers that cleanup and repair costs at the spaceport had reached at least $3.1 million. The corporation claims ABL was required to carry insurance that also covered the spaceport, and had a policy for up to $50 million to cover potential damages.
Alaska Aerospace said its counsel had sent three emails to USAIG by Jan. 8 asking for a copy of its policy and status on a filed claim, which allegedly existed but was never confirmed by the insurance group.
The CEO of Alaska Aerospace, John Oberst, told KMXT via email that “It has taken far too long to close out these claims but (that) also (is) not uncommon in the insurance industry.”
Oberst said the corporation filed the lawsuit to expedite the recovery of environmental remediation costs.
A summons has been issued in the case, but a court date has not yet been set to hear it.
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