SpaceX with expensive insurance - Nothing about the premium in this message - Curt Lewis

FAA requires next SpaceX launch to be insured for $63 million

Increased liability comes six months after pad explosion

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Feb, 19, 2017.

By ANDY PASZTOR 

A SpaceX rocket scheduled to boost a commercial satellite into orbit from Florida before dawn on Tuesday carries five times as much liability coverage for prelaunch operations as launches in previous years.

The higher limit, mandated by federal officials, reflects heightened U.S. concerns about the potential extent of damage to nearby government property in the event of an accident before blastoff. But at this point it isn't clear what specifically prompted imposition of higher liability coverage on Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

Billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX-Space Exploration Technologies-said it plans to take tourists on a trip around the moon in as little as two years, after it starts ferrying NASA astronauts to the international space station. Photo: SpaceX/EPA

Before approving earlier this month a license authorizing launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center to transport an EchoStar Corp. broadcast satellite into orbit, the Federal Aviation Administration mandated at least $63 million liability coverage for government property that could be damaged by prelaunch activities. Until this year, the required coverage for such operations was $13 million.

The amount of coverage required for the flight itself - to pay for possible damage to government property in case the booster malfunctions and parts fall back to Earth - hasn't changed. FAA records show the license was issued on March 1. Tuesday's launch is the second Falcon 9 mission from the venerable Florida space center since a September 2016 rocket explosion during routine ground tests at a nearby Air Force pad.