Commercial space insurance

Commercial space insurance is a coordinated set of policies protecting a space company, its hardware, and its mission across pre-launch, launch, and in-orbit phases. It combines core business coverage (D&O, Cyber, Tech E&O, general liability, workers' compensation) with space-specific coverage for the spacecraft and mission. Coverage is structured around mission stage, and availability, limits, and terms depend on the spacecraft, mission profile, launch vehicle, and insured value.

Satellite insurance can be structured to protect a satellite across pre-launch, launch, and orbital phases. Depending on the placement, coverage may address physical loss or damage, total or partial in-orbit failure, payload or transponder impairment, and certain loss-of-revenue exposures. The exact structure depends on the satellite, its insured value, and its operational history.

Cost depends on satellite value, launch vehicle track record, orbital altitude, and mission duration. Early-stage space startups often begin with general liability while satellite and launch programs are priced individually based on payload valuation and risk profile. Because aerospace risk varies so widely, RiskCube submits your application across multiple aerospace markets so you can compare real quotes for your specific mission before committing.

They track mission stage. Pre-launch (and cargo) covers the spacecraft and payload during transport, storage, integration, testing, and launch preparation. Launch covers the launch phase and can extend through separation and an agreed in-orbit period, often as a launch-plus-one-year policy. In-orbit (in-space) coverage protects the spacecraft through its operational life. A note on terms: LEOP (the launch and early-orbit phase) is the days-to-weeks early-orbit window and is not the same as the launch-plus-one-year policy, which attaches at ignition and runs through the first operational year. For navigating coverage, separation, when the spacecraft leaves the launch vehicle, is a useful dividing point between the launch phase and post-separation in-space risks.

Usually. Standard commercial policies price predictable terrestrial risks and generally are not designed to cover spacecraft launch or in-orbit physical loss, so a space company typically needs specialist coverage for those exposures and may find the frontier risk falls under an exclusion on a generic policy. Space insurance is placed with specialist aerospace markets precisely to cover what standard policies are not built for.

It can, but it depends heavily on policy wording and the covered trigger. Cyber coverage for space companies most commonly responds to events on the ground systems, mission control, command-and-control links, and networks (ransomware, command-system compromise, unauthorized access, and security events). Whether a policy responds to effects on the spacecraft's own performance in orbit is more limited and must be confirmed in the wording.

Yes. In-orbit insurance can protect operational satellites against degraded performance, shortened service life, partial malfunction, or complete inoperability during the mission period. Underwriters usually review telemetry data, mission condition, and operational history first.

It can, and it is usually structured in two parts: launch third-party liability (third-party damage during launch and ascent) and in-space third-party liability (in-orbit exposures such as collision and debris), subject to policy terms. On the launch side, the FAA's launch and reentry rules (14 CFR Part 440) require a licensee or permittee to demonstrate financial responsibility for third-party claims, and insurance is one accepted method. The exact requirement is set by the specific license, so it is not a single universal figure and not every company faces the same obligation.

Space insurance is placed through a small set of specialist aerospace insurance markets rather than standard commercial carriers. RiskCube is an independent broker: rather than representing one carrier, we structure the risk and approach the appropriate specialist markets, then help you compare coverage, limits, deductibles, exclusions, and pricing before you bind.