Space & satellite

Insurance for space and satellite businesses

Yes — Apex places space and satellite insurance for UK space businesses: pre-launch, launch and in-orbit cover for satellites, third-party liability to the level a CAA licence requires, and professional indemnity for space-engineering and mission-analysis consultancies. We arrange it through the specialist Lloyd’s space market, via wholesale, with the licensing and contract wording that UK space activities demand.

Part of: Commercial insurance

In short

Space and satellite is a specialist class, written in the Lloyd’s space market rather than by standard commercial insurers: a launch failure can destroy a vehicle and its payload in one event, and an in-orbit fault can write off a satellite years into service. UK space activity is regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority — spaceflight from the UK under the Space Industry Act 2018, and UK companies that launch or operate satellites overseas under the Outer Space Act 1986. Cover usually spans pre-launch, launch and in-orbit phases for the asset, third-party liability, and professional indemnity for the consultancies that design and analyse missions.

Who this is for

‘Space and satellite’ is not one business, and the cover that leads depends on where you sit in the mission:

Satellite operators and owners — carrying the asset and liability risk across a spacecraft’s working life.
Launch, spaceport and range operators — UK sites and services licensed for launch, range and return.
Satellite and spacecraft manufacturers — building platforms, payloads, propulsion and subsystems, and their supply chains.
Ground-segment and data businesses — ground stations, mission control and tracking, and the services built on the data.
Space-engineering and mission-analysis consultancies — designing and analysing missions, where the exposure is professional rather than physical.
New-space start-ups and spin-outs — often around Harwell, Spaceport Cornwall and the growing South West space community.

Most established businesses are a blend, so the asset, liability and professional sides need arranging together.

The covers space and satellite businesses need

Space cover follows the phases of a mission, with the liabilities that run alongside it:

Cover	What it responds to
Pre-launch	Loss or damage during build, testing, transport and handling before launch.
Launch	The highest-risk phase — ignition through orbital insertion, where one failure can destroy the vehicle and payload together.
In-orbit (life)	Failure or degradation once operational: component, power and propulsion faults, and partial or constructive total loss.
Re-entry and return	Physical damage and disposal liabilities on planned re-entry or the return of a stage or vehicle.
Third-party liability	Legal liability for injury or damage a space object causes to third parties — the cover a CAA licence requires.
Professional indemnity	For design, orbital-analysis and mission-planning work; space contracts are often US-facing — see US-jurisdiction PI.
Supporting cover	Employers’ liability once you employ people, plus public liability and cyber where the contract calls for them.

Not every business needs every line, but the pieces have to fit together and match the licence.

Licensing, the CAA and compulsory third-party liability

UK space activity is licensed, and the licence drives the insurance. The CAA is the regulator, and two Acts sit behind it:

Space Industry Act 2018 — spaceflight carried out from the UK: launch and return, spaceport and range control, and the orbital operation of satellites, licensed by the CAA under the Space Industry Regulations 2021.
Outer Space Act 1986 — still applies to UK companies and individuals that procure a launch or operate a satellite overseas rather than from the UK.

A licensed operator must hold third-party liability insurance to the level its licence sets, so a third-party claim is met rather than left with the operator or the taxpayer. The UK sets that level for the activity and its risk, not as one flat figure; operator licences carry a limit on the operator’s liability, and government has developed and consulted on an orbital-liability regime. We confirm the exact requirement against your licence before placing cover. Where a launch slot or test campaign means cover has to be in place quickly, we can arrange business insurance at short notice.

Why space cover belongs in the Lloyd's market

Space is not a risk that standard commercial or property insurers write. Three things put it in the specialist market:

The market. Space and satellite risks are underwritten by specialist Lloyd’s syndicates and space reinsurers, via wholesale; a standard commercial or property policy simply excludes spacecraft and launch — see space insurance and satellite insurance.
Aggregation and total loss. A launch failure can destroy a vehicle and payload in one event, and an in-orbit fault can write off a satellite that is intact but no longer commercially viable, so the wording, triggers and limits matter more than almost anywhere.
Licence and contract wording. Third-party liability has to meet the CAA licence, and launch and payload contracts set their own insurance and cross-waiver terms; a cheaper policy that does not meet them is no use.

Many UK space businesses grow out of aerospace; if your work also spans aircraft, systems or airworthiness, see aerospace and aviation insurance and aviation insurance.

Why place space cover through Apex

Apex Insurance Brokers is an independent commercial insurance broker established in 2009 and based in Bristol — in the South West, alongside Spaceport Cornwall and the Cornwall space cluster, and we work with space businesses across the UK, including the Harwell cluster. We are owned by our directors and directly authorised by the FCA since 2016. We are not tied to any single insurer, and we have access to over 30 markets, including the specialist Lloyd’s space and aviation syndicates — via wholesale. Every client has a named broker who understands what a launch-services contract or a CAA licence actually asks for.

Owned by its directors, not for sale. No consolidator, no private-equity owner, no external shareholders — and we have declined approaches to buy the firm. Read the Apex Independence Charter.
Independent, not tied. No single-insurer scheme, no in-house policy, no placement quotas — the recommendation is the one that fits, not the one we are paid to push.
Over 30 markets, including Lloyd’s. Specialist UK PI insurers and Lloyd’s syndicates via wholesale, so a risk that one underwriter dislikes can still be placed properly with another.
Usually three or four competing quotes, laid out side by side — limit, excess, retroactive date, exclusions and premium — with a plain-language note on the trade-offs.
The stay-put letter. If your existing cover is right, we say so in writing, free and without obligation. How the stay-put letter works.
A named broker all year. The person who places your cover is the person who picks up the phone at renewal, on a mid-term change, or when a letter of claim lands.
Director-level attention on claims. We help you notify circumstances early and in the right form, stay involved once the insurer’s panel solicitors are appointed, and tell you plainly where you stand.
Directly authorised by the FCA since 2016, not an appointed representative trading under someone else’s permissions.

Frequently asked

Do I need third-party liability insurance to operate a satellite or launch?

Yes, if the activity is licensed. UK spaceflight from the UK is licensed by the Civil Aviation Authority under the Space Industry Act 2018, and UK companies procuring launches or operating satellites overseas under the Outer Space Act 1986. The licence requires third-party liability insurance to the level the CAA sets, which we place.

Does Apex insure the satellite itself, or only the liability?

Both, through the specialist market. Pre-launch cover protects the spacecraft during build, testing and transport; launch cover runs from ignition through orbital insertion; and in-orbit cover responds to failure or degradation, including constructive total loss. Third-party liability sits alongside as a separate line — see space and satellite insurance.

We are a space-engineering or mission-analysis consultancy, not an operator — what do we need?

Professional indemnity usually leads: if a design, orbital-analysis or mission-planning error has to be put right, it responds to the cost. Space contracts are frequently US-facing — see US-jurisdiction professional indemnity. Employers’ liability applies once you employ people, with public liability and cyber as the work requires.

Can you arrange cover quickly for a launch campaign or test window?

Often, yes. Where a test campaign or launch slot means cover must be in place at short notice, we work to the timescale — see business insurance at short notice. Tell us the milestone and the requirement, and we will place it.

Working in space or satellites?

Tell us where you sit in the mission — operator, manufacturer, launch or spaceport, ground segment, or consultancy — and any CAA licence or contract requirement, and we’ll place it through the specialist market with the wording your programme needs. Or call 0117 325 0027.

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Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales, company number 07014570. This page is general information about space and satellite insurance, not advice on your individual circumstances, and it does not guarantee that cover will be available or on what terms.