Travel insurance provider Battleface has launched insurance for space tourists.

The new policy is underwritten by certain underwriters at Lloyd’s of London and will cover accidental death and permanent disablement. 

The bespoke policy will be valid on any of the space flights operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and high-tech balloon manufacturers Space Perspective, among others.   

“We regularly revisit our policies to ensure we are relevant to today’s marketplace, and while space tourism is still in its infancy, several hundred space flights have been sold to ‘civilians’ and demand is growing,” said Battleface chief executive Sasha Gainullin.

“With the advent of more affordable space travel, costs should come down as demand rises alongside the need for insurance. 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." 

Existing policies for space travel traditionally cover satellites and non-human cargo. A statement from Battleface said Lloyd’s has developed a “straightforward, scalable insurance for all aspects and phases of new technological advancements and projects in the space travel sector,” quoting a Lloyd’s report which forecasts the industry to be worth $1trillion by 2040.

Gainullin likened today’s space tourism landscape to the “early days” of air travel and said “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,” she said.

“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."