The explosive growth in satellite launches and low-earth orbit operations has yet to translate into similar gains in the satellite insurance market.

Many of the newest satellites are considerably less valuable than earlier spacecraft and are often uninsured or covered through captives, or their owners and operators buy only launch insurance.

Although the number of satellites launched has increased more than fivefold since 2019, the number of insured satellites has not seen a corresponding increase (see chart).

Future projects, such as replacement space stations, may provide opportunities for growth in satellite insurance (see related story below).

The satellite insurance market represents about $500 million in annual premium, said Patton Kline, New York-based US aviation and space practice leader, at Marsh.

Sources generally agree that about 20 to 25 insurers operate in the satellite insurance market.

“You would think that I am just the busiest guy in the world,” said Rob Schenone, Morristown, New Jersey-based head of aerospace and underwriting manager, space – Americas for Axa XL.

More satellites are being launched now than ever before, he said. Annual launches used to be in the hundreds but now reach the thousands.

Most satellites, however, are uninsured, Mr. Schenone said.

“There’s a lot more launch activity than there ever has been,” Mr. Kline said. “The hope for the market is that those values are going to replace the historic values, but at this point, that hasn’t happened quite yet.”

While there’s an expectation that the new phase of launches and investment in satellites will generate growth, the market remains in transition, said Charles Wetton, London-based underwriting manager for Global Aerospace Underwriting Managers.

“We are not seeing people with large constellations insure their satellites. Most of the time, these satellites are not being insured. If they are being insured, it’s a small portion of coverage and the values are much lower than what we have seen in the past.”

In some cases, captives are used to retain the risk rather than transferring it to insurers, Mr. Schenone said. “They feel that self-insurance is a way to go to manage their risk because of the number of satellites they have in their one system.”

For the new generation of high-volume, low-value satellites, some owners and operators purchase only launch insurance, according to Mr. Schenone.

“They’ll buy insurance, but that will just be insurance for their launch. Satellite launches. Satellite separates from the launch vehicle. Coverage ends. A half hour of insurance coverage.” Some 80% of his premium, he said, is “non-recurring” because it is tied to launches.

Rates increased sharply after substantial losses in 2023 and moderated slowly last year before steadying in 2025, Mr. Schenone said.

“Premium rates have increased significantly in the last 24 months but are now showing signs of stabilizing,” said Ian George, London-based head of space at Lockton.

Some insurers exited the market because of the substantial losses in 2023, Mr. Kline said.

“What we’re seeing now is that some of those underwriters who stepped away from the market are coming back into the market with new capacity, new managing general agents,” Mr. Patton said.

Policy wordings

Differences in technologies and mission applications mean that each policy must be essentially created for each vehicle.

“Every policy wording we do is manuscript, because every satellite is different, Mr. Schenone said.

“Most policies are bespoke,” said Akiko Hama, London-based client executive, underwriting, Global Aerospace.

Global Aerospace primarily provides first-party asset insurance in addition to some third-party liability, typically, launch liability, she said.

At Lockton, space risks offerings include launch vehicle flight only; launch plus in-orbit testing; launch plus one year of in-orbit coverage; and annual in-orbit policies, Mr. George said.

Pre-launch coverage is also available in the marine cargo market, he said.

One area of growth has been from contractors, Ms. Hama said.

“We’re getting to the point where governments are starting to buy services from contractors. We’re seeing insurance coverage for risks on government missions that 20 years ago would have been retained by the government. Now, the contractors themselves want to insure those types of risks,” Ms. Hama said.

Space stations may provide market boost

While much of the most recent activity in space has involved the launch of smaller, lower-value satellites, which often are not insured in the commercial market, there are potentially larger projects on the horizon.

For example, a new generation of space stations may test the insurance market in the coming years.

The International Space Station, a space lab operated by a consortium of international agencies that has been in orbit for more than 25 years, is due to be decommissioned at the end of the decade, and several entities are involved in the design and pre-production of its replacement, said Ian George, London-based head of the space, aviation division at Lockton.

“It is quite possible — even probable — that nations other than the U.S. may look to have their own habitable space stations within the next decade,” he said.

Such an undertaking would contrast with the recent wave of low-value vehicles and could potentially strain available satellite insurance capacity, said Rob Schenone, Morristown, New Jersey-based head of aerospace and underwriting manager, space – Americas at Axa XL.

Although it may be five years away, “the space station will be brought down, and then there’s a couple companies that are private that will be launching their own private space station in conjunction with NASA,” Mr. Schenone said.

“That’s obviously a very, very valuable asset, and they’ll potentially need insurance for that space station. That could be more than a billion dollars,” he said.

With satellite capacity standing at about $500 million, projects larger than that might struggle to secure enough coverage or have to pay more for it.

“Any risk, even the most technically straightforward, that requires more than $250 million of insurance is likely to put pressure on market dynamics,” Mr. George said.