Who pays when rockets explode? China insures SpaceX’s rivals in orbital race against US

Wave of Chinese insurers is underwriting rockets and satellites, turning space risk into a new front in the China-US rivalry

This is part of a series on the global impact of SpaceX’s historic IPO, tracing how mainland Chinese investors’ strategies, the Hong Kong market and wider capital flows are being reshaped by Elon Musk’s trillion-dollar rocket gamble.

In 2016, a SpaceX rocket carrying a satellite blew up during a test, destroying on-board equipment and surrounding facilities worth millions of US dollars.

Fortunately, the satellite operator, Israel’s Space Communications, had an insurance policy worth almost US$300 million on the cargo, largely minimising the loss.

As the commercial space sector has flourished over the past decade – culminating in the blockbuster initial public offering of SpaceX on Friday – the space-insurance market has matured alongside it.

Once a highly specialised niche, the sector now serves as a critical financial backstop protecting satellite operators, manufacturers and space-flight providers against catastrophic loss.