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Space travel insurance? Even Bezos can’t get any

If all goes to plan, next month will see Amazon boss Jeff Bezos blast off into space on one of his own Blue Origin rockets. Just one problem though. Neither he nor the other five passengers are likely to get any travel insurance for the trip. Financial industry experts say no firm is ready to offer liability cover for space tourists. And there’s no legal requirement for Blue Origin to offer any, though the amateur astronauts may be able to get their own life insurance. For professional space travelers it’s all nothing new. NASA doesn’t buy liability cover for its astronauts, with launches effectively insured by taxpayers. But lack of insurance could pose a problem for the nascent space tourism business. Insurance broker Marsh say it’s not aware of any case where rocket passengers have had liability cover. Experts say insurers expect iron-clad waivers stating they they will bear no burden if someone dies. It all harks back to the early days of aviation, with the first-ever air travel policy written in 1911. A few years later, adventurer Charles Lindbergh was insured for his pioneering transatlantic flight. Aviation insurance has since become a multibillion dollar market, but it’s not clear whether that model can be applied to space travel too. For now, a lack of cover may not deter Bezos. As for insurers, they may be happier to provide cover for future flights… when the passenger list doesn’t include the world’s richest man.