Insurance of space risks is a complex of types of insurance designed to provide insurance protection against risks associated with space activities.
The object of insurance in this area of insurance are the following types of space technology:
satellites;
- launch vehicle;
- manned spacecraft;
- orbital station;
- ground engineering structures: launch complexes, means of delivery, control centers and others.
Insurance may also cover:
- liability to third parties as a result of rocket and space activities;
- environmental risk;
- life and health of personnel operating rocket and space technology (RKT);
- RKT in the period of transportation;
- construction and Assembly risks (SMR) when creating RKT enterprises and prelaunch preparation at the spaceport;
- responsibility for the quality of work during space activities;
- costs for the provision of launch services;
- revenues from the operation of space systems and complexes.
Thus, the insurance cover also covers the life and health of cosmonauts and personnel servicing space complexes, civil liability for damage that may be caused to third parties and the environment, financial risks (indirect financial damage) arising from technical malfunctions and political risks that can delay or cancel the implementation of the space program.
Space risk insurance combines various branches of insurance: personal, property and liability. The experience of space risk insurance since 1965 suggests that it is one of the most complex types of insurance due to the fact that space technology is complex in itself and objects of insurance are very expensive. Therefore, space risk insurance often uses co-insurance in the form of insurance pools, as well as reinsurance.
