The Final Frontier
As a kid I recall watching reruns of the original Star Trek series and the subsequent movie franchise. I remember hearing a narrative voiced by William Shatner remarking that space was mankind’s “final frontier.” It’s quite a vast one at that. With all of our technology and the scientific research and expertise of centuries of brilliant minds, we still don’t have a clue as to the extent of what is really “out there,” which is why the subject of outer space is so intriguing.
I have always been fascinated with it. My childhood bedroom had a fantastic mural of the planet Saturn surrounded by several of its moons against a photorealistic backdrop of starlit blackness. What it would be like to actually be there! Well, mankind continues to get closer to that reality.
Several weeks ago, an American spacecraft reached the orbit of Mars and successfully delivered a technologically advanced and very expensive “rover” to the surface of the “red planet.” Over two billion dollars of sensors, cameras, microphones and heavy state-of-the-art machinery landed successfully in the crimson-tinged dust and began immediately sending back to California clear images and audio from almost 150 million miles away. The mission is part one of a long-term project to find signs of ancient life on Mars leading us to a better understanding of the sustainability of living somewhere other than Earth.
Humans colonizing an alien planet probably won’t happen in my lifetime, but that hasn’t stopped many modern visionaries from working to improve the possibility of public, civilian space travel.
Financial juggernauts are funding space programs for companies like Virgin Galactic and SpaceX to develop transit platforms and spacecraft that will one day safely and more affordably get brave travelers to the International Space Station and eventually beyond.
Safety protocols and fiduciary due diligence have already given rise to the contemplation of space travel insurance. Petersen International has been tasked over recent years with the privilege of assisting several of these companies with budgetary analysis and product development, providing accident insurance and death benefits for those who will one day be rocketed outside the Earth’s atmosphere.
Many of the insurance applications for space travel are still in their infancy, but the galactic future will be here sooner than we all can imagine. The insurance industry will be an integral resource and necessity for the space travel industry, and Petersen International will be part of that next insurance frontier.