Civilian space tourism: There's coverage for that
With revenues projected to exceed $1 trillion by 2040, could space tourism be the next insurance frontier?
As the private space race continues heating up, the dream of space tourism inches ever closer to becoming a reality for some. Morgan Stanley finds the burgeoning industry so promising it projects the sector could surpass $1 trillion in revenue by 2040.
As with business travel or a trip to grandma’s house, space tourism is not without its own set of perils. To give future interplanetary travelers peace of mind as they sojourn beyond the stars, battleface Travel Insurance is launching a line for civilian space tourism.
The bespoke offering is backed by an underwriter with Lloyd’s of London, and the policies cover accidental death and permanent disablement. As the sector grows, battleface will add benefits and services to the line, according to CEO Sasha Gainullin.
The policies will be custom-built for each individual and trip, so limits and exclusions will differ and be dependent on specific flights and customers, he tells PropertyCasualty360.com.
“This product is more of an extension to a travel insurance policy,” Gainullin says. “For example, you’d still need full travel insurance for your travel to the launch site and back home after your space trip. Space travel product could be purchased as an add-on or an extension of your travel insurance policy.”
While this will be the first policy to cover space tourism, according to battleface, Lloyd’s has entered into the sector with policies for the private spaceflight industry and space consortium. The London-based insurance and reinsurance marketplace has scalable insurance solutions and covers “all aspects and phases of new technological advancements and projects in the space travel sectors,” noted the travel insurance company.
“Today’s landscape mirrors the early days of air travel back at the beginning of last century,” Gainullin said in a release. “With the advent of more affordable space travel, costs should come down as demand rises alongside the need for insurance. The first policy for aviation was written in 1911 and in 1927 the first transatlantic flight flown by Charles Lindbergh was insured. We are excited to be one of the first companies in 2021 to be providing insurance to space tourism pioneers who want to have the freedom to travel into space.”
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