The race to build data centers is now extending into orbit, with major tech companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin laying out aggressive plans for orbital artificial intelligence infrastructure. This move into space poses new challenges for insurers, who must figure out how to price and underwrite the risks associated with this uncharted territory.

Despite the potential for a multibillion-dollar class of assets in orbit, insurers face technical uncertainties such as launch failures, radiation, and space debris, as well as regulatory and pricing challenges. While some experts see the growth of orbital computing as a new frontier for insurance underwriting, others express concerns over the lack of regulation, insufficient capital, and the difficulty in quantifying the risk in what they describe as “the Wild West” of space. As the industry navigates these obstacles, insurers may need to invent much of the rulebook before they can provide coverage for the next data-center boom in orbit.