The launch of NASA’s Artemis II mission is bringing the insurance implications of lunar activity back into focus, as missions become more complex and increasingly commercially structured. Artemis II lifted off on April 1, 2026, marking the first crewed lunar mission in more than 50 years.
Unlike earlier space programmes, Artemis is built around a network of private contractors and international partners, marking a shift away from purely state-led missions. That structure raises questions around how risk is allocated, priced and insured across multiple entities.
“Underwriting new space risk remains a challenge,” said Andrew Bonwick, VP – Product Development at Relm Insurance.
At the centre of the issue is liability. Existing frameworks, including the Outer Space Treaty, were not designed for a commercialised space environment where responsibility for launches, payloads and infrastructure is shared across jurisdictions and organisations.
This creates potential uncertainty over how claims would be handled in the event of a loss, particularly where multiple contractors are involved in a single mission.
Aggregation risk is also emerging as a concern. Artemis relies on a relatively concentrated ecosystem of launch providers and specialist suppliers, meaning a single failure could have knock-on effects across multiple missions and programmes.
Insurers are being asked to underwrite increasingly complex assets with limited historical loss data, raising questions around how far traditional models can stretch.
“Early lunar losses highlight a clear reality: insurers need data, typically multiple successful missions, alongside deep industry understanding before offering meaningful terms,” Bonwick said.
The mission also highlights the challenge of underwriting increasingly complex assets with limited historical loss data. Artemis II is a critical precursor to future lunar missions, making it a live test of how risk is assessed and transferred as activity scales.
“Beyond that, the issue is scale. Mission costs are rising faster than market capacity, and insurance alone will not be sufficient for large capital projects,” Bonwick said.
As programmes expand, that may require a broader approach to risk transfer. “Future solutions will need to combine insurance with alternative risk-sharing structures, particularly as liability becomes more complex in an increasingly interconnected space environment,” said Bonwick.
Artemis II will not land on the moon, but its launch marks a significant milestone for sustained lunar operations. In that sense, the programme is becoming an early test not just of spacecraft and crewed capability, but of how insurers approach liability, capacity and underwriting in the next phase of space activity.
