Known for providing travel insurance for war zones and global exploration, Battleface’s next mission is delivering cover for space tourists through a newly launched bespoke policy. Jenny Southan reports
“Existing policies for space travellers have historically been rare, with most of those policies covering satellites and non-human cargo. As the demand for private astronaut trips grows, that will change, and Battleface will be there with peace of mind for people traveling into space,” says Battleface on its website.
Battleface’s new space tourism travel insurance policy is a bespoke offer that will cover the likes of accidental death and permanent disablement.
Underwritten by Lloyd’s, the policy can be valid for any of the space flights operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, and high-tech balloon manufacturers Space Perspective amongst others.
Sasha Gainullin, CEO of Battleface, says: “We are proud to be providing this pioneering product for space tourism. 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.
“This type of product fits with our values of providing people with the confidence to fulfil their dreams.”
Lloyd’s already has an innovative insurance solution for the emerging private spaceflight industry and a space consortium from where they have developed straightforward, scalable insurance for all aspects and phases of new technological advancements and projects in the space travel sector.
According to a Lloyd’s report, they anticipate the space tourism industry will be worth US$1 trillion by 2040, driven by private companies entering the sector, which will generate a significant number of new jobs and capabilities in the emerging space tourism industry.
Gainullin says: “Today’s landscape mirrors the early days of air travel back at the beginning of last century. With the advent of more affordable space travel, 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. 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.”