Joseph Ziolkowski, the founder and chief executive of Relm Insurance, sees a new business opportunity in outer space.

In the shadow of a highly successful Bermuda Digital Finance Forum, Mr Ziolkowski told The Royal Gazette that the way space was accessed, physically and virtually, would be completely transformed in the next decade, with the number of satellites in lower orbit projected to grow from around 11,000 to more than 30,000.

He believes it is an opportunity for Relm.

The company was incorporated and received its insurance authorisation in Bermuda in 2019.

During a presentation at the forum recently held at Hamilton Princess & Beach Club, Mr Ziolkowski said that when the company started, Bermuda was the only jurisdiction bold enough to support them.

“At inception we had zero clients, zero dollars in premiums, zero distribution partners and zero reinsurance,” he said.

“What we did have was conviction and a licence from the Bermuda Monetary Authority, a regulator who understood what we were trying to do. Fast forward six years and we now have thousands of clients.”

Mr Ziolkowski said Bermuda had insurance capacity for satellite business but the Bermuda market was generally focused on older space applications.

He said: “Those are very large geostationary satellites made by the largest companies, funded by entities such as national governments, with risk to the tune of half a billion dollars. Relm does a bit of that but is more focused on the commercialisation of space.”

Relm has its eye on smaller, privately funded start-ups that are building the components needed to position satellites to look at Earth in a completely different way.

The chief executive saw these satellites as a solution for insurers who often use outdated, historical data to predict natural disaster impacts and climate change.

“Look at the Federal Emergency Management Agency flood maps and reconcile that with recent flood activity,” Mr Ziolkowski said, shaking his head.

“Look at what has been happening with wildfires and other forms of natural catastrophes. Satellite infrastructure is becoming a core part of how we assess what is happening on Earth.”

He said many people were missing risk transfer opportunities in in-orbit and downstream capabilities.

This could include services such as satellite refuelling and repair and services providing information to terrestrial applications.

“We are working closely with really important companies doing really amazing innovations around the space economy,” Mr Ziolkowski said.

Relm recently appointed astrophysicist Francesca Faedi as a senior adviser.

Dr Faedi is the director of Orbital Innovation Ltd, a lecturer at the University of Leicester on the space economy, and an “esteemed expert” in the field of aerospace.

In addition, she serves as the academic liaison for commercial and innovation activities at Space Park Leicester.

“It was through our relationship with Dr Faedi that we began to focus on how we could build flexible and nimble solutions,” Mr Ziolkowski said.

However, the Relm executive said space insurance had been a challenging market in the past five years, with premiums, roughly equal to claims.

“Adverse market conditions are challenging the availability of capacity,” Mr Ziolkowski said. “To push this business forward, we have had to spend more time researching and developing.”

He said that for the past six years Relm has been focused on offering solutions to forward-thinking firms that were comfortable providing it with data so that it could push its knowledge base forward.

“We are building inroads into new transformational sectors, trying to insure that our products can continue to scale and grow,” Mr Ziolkowski said.