Think of it as AAA in outer space.

AssureSat Inc. of El Segundo is planning to launch two satellites in the coming years that will be stationed in orbit for use as backups if and when one of its clients’ communications satellites malfunctions.

AssureSat Chairman Mark Fowler is currently finishing up the third and final round of financing for the company. And while details of the funding were not disclosed, the capital requirements for such an endeavor are massive not the kind of venture one launches out of his garage. AssureSat’s two satellites will cost roughly $500 million to build and launch.

To make the plan fly, the company has enlisted some deep-pocketed backers, including Securitas Capital, an investment vehicle for Swiss Reinsurance Co. and Credit Suisse Group, which has an equity stake in the company.

“There is in fact very little downside to this kind of investment,” said Fowler. “Ninety-five percent of the money goes into building the two satellites, which will serve as collateral. They will only become more valuable once they are parked in orbit.”

Some observers, however, are skeptical about the need for an in-orbit back-up service for communications satellites.

“The premise is that we’ll continue to have satellite outages, and I’m not so sure that’s a reasonable assumption,” said Paul Nisbet, president of JSA Research Inc., an institutional research firm specializing in the aerospace industry. “The major satellite manufacturers, such as Hughes Electronics, are improving the reliability of the satellites, and we’re seeing a new generation of launch vehicles which will reduce the number of launch failures over the next two years.”