The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) and Liberty Mutual Reinsurance Company (LM Re), part of Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, have signed a Memorandum of Intent (MoI), marking the start of a three-year collaboration.
The collaboration aims to explore how space applications can support the development of parametric insurance solutions to protect sectors such as agriculture and forestry from climate-related risks.
By combining expertise and resources, ESA and LM Re aim to help companies accelerate product development using satellite data and other space technologies to design better insurance solutions. The collaboration also aims to make insurance faster, more transparent and more scalable, while supporting the development of advanced risk models for climate resilience.
Additionally, the collaboration will create opportunities for companies outside the insurance industry to explore space applications with LM Re to support risk innovation.
The first partnership opportunity will begin on February 12, 2026, when LM Re will host a workshop with ESA to help data and technology companies understand the challenges of assessing wind damage in forestry.
Following the workshop, these companies will have the opportunity to propose solutions to these challenges using spatial data and technology. Successful applicants will be able to work with LM Re and potentially benefit from ESA BASS support and funding to bring these solutions to market.
The solution will focus on the damage caused by wind to forests around the world, addressing the need for transparent and objective parametric insurance products for forest wind and related storm losses. As the forest economy, carbon markets and bioeconomy increasingly rely on effective risk transfer and rapid recovery solutions, space-driven technologies have the potential to enable affordable, data-driven wind risk solutions at scale. These solutions can benefit forest owners and managers, forestland investors, utilities and public agencies alike.
“We are delighted to announce this new MoI,” said Ana Raposo, Commercial Applications and Partnerships Officer at ESA. “This will create new opportunities for businesses looking to develop commercially viable space-based solutions for insurance markets across multiple industries, particularly in agriculture and forestry where climate change will have a significant impact. We look forward to launching our first joint initiative in early 2026.”
Victor Bouton, Head of Science, Parameters and Agriculture at LM Re, added: “We are delighted to announce our partnership with ESA. By collaborating and building partnerships outside the insurance industry, we can develop cutting-edge solutions to meet the evolving needs of climate change-related risks.”