Advertisement
Opinion
Can Hong Kong make a giant leap to commercial space insurance?
The explosive growth of China’s commercial space business, combined with geopolitical realities, gives the city a captive market
4-MIN READ4-MIN
4
Listen
Chow Chung-yan began his journalistic career at the South China Morning Post and rose to become editor-in-chief in 2025.
Some may feel a lump in their throats as they watch Hong Kong’s first astronaut, Lai Ka-ying, make history, but few see it as anything more than an inspirational story for our youth. In reality, space, which can feel lofty and far away to pragmatic Hongkongers, could hold the key to our city’s economic future.
In my previous column, we discussed why Hong Kong represents China’s best chance to build an alternative global maritime insurance system, but also why that remains mission impossible for now. In the space sector, however, if we play our cards right and exercise patience, we may find the very opening we need to get back into the game.
In many ways, space insurance mirrors maritime insurance. This should come as no surprise. In the early 1960s, when the US government created the Communications Satellite Corporation to kick-start the satellite industry, it realised it needed financial protection to make this incredibly expensive and risky venture commercially viable.
The US turned to Lloyd’s of London – the undisputed king of global maritime insurance. In 1965, Lloyd’s wrote the world’s first space policy: a pre-launch insurance policy for the world’s first commercial communication satellite, Intelsat I, also known as Early Bird.
Select Voice
Select Speed
1x
AI-generated voice