Everybody Wants to Go to Space
While the floodgates for space tourism travel may not be open quite yet, the prospect is certainly on the horizon. Now that billionaires Jeff Bezos and Sir Richard Branson have taken trips past Earth’s atmosphere, it will not be long before others with the financial means to do so seek to follow in their footsteps.
Bezos’ Blue Origin LLC has not yet released ticket prices, but it reportedly has sold $100 million worth of tickets for future passengers. Branson’s Virgin Galactic Holdings is reportedly selling space trip tickets for $250,000 per person and has reserved 600 tickets. While these price points are certainly too expensive for the average person to afford, there is still an opportunity for insurers to offer some type of insurance coverage for this new-age travel. However, the question remains how, if at all, the insurance industry will offer insurance coverage for space tourism.
Current Status of Space Insurance
The only insurance currently required for commercial space operators is third-party liability coverage for property damage on earth or to a flying aircraft. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the market for space insurance, specifically space-related mishaps for mechanical parts, recently amounted to $800 million annually. Some sources have projected that space travel spending could reach between $10 billion and $15 billion annually by 2030, and $1 trillion annually by 2040.
Only one...
Read Full Story: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/cover-me-to-the-moon-will-insurers-8693355/
Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.