Bermuda-based insurer Ironshore is reaching for the stars.

The firm’s Pembroke Managing Agency arm is to offer insurance cover for lenders involved in the financing of satellite launches.

Neil Stevens, the director of Pembroke’s space division said: “Access to financing is the most difficult aspect an entrepreneur encounters to facilitate the launch of a new commercial space project.

“The insurance coverage offers a solution that removes the residual exposure inherent in satellite financing during the riskiest part of the mission, which is the launch phase.”

The coverage gives banks and export credit agencies insurance against the risk of non-disclosure and misrepresentation by the borrowers in a satellite financing transaction.

Pembroke Syndicate 4000 will lead a consortium of Lloyd’s of London syndicates to provide capacity of up to $100 million to underwrite coverage.

Mr Stevens added that the new product “fills a gap in the traditional market by offering protection backed by secure capacity of the Lloyd’s model to support such ventures”.