Marsh is to place the marine risks for the Sea Launch joint venture.
Sea Launch is a partnership between Boeing (US), Kvaerner (Norway), Energia (Russia) and SDO Yuzhoye and PO Yuzhmash (Ukraine).
Based in Long Beach, Sea Launch uses a specially designed platform to launch commercial satellites on a Russian and Ukrainian rocket. The launches are carried out on the equator in the Pacific.
Yesterday's launch of the Inmarsat-4 satellite (designed to support the Broadband Global Area Network) was the 18th Sea Launch flight since the inaugural launch in March 1999.
The insurance programme, which is led by insurance group XL, covers all marine aspects of the risk.
Marcus Baker, deputy chief executive of Marsh's Marine & Energy Practice, said: "This is an insurance programme unlike any other.
"We were approached back in 1997 to place the programme which includes hull, liability, cargo, aviation and space. The programme is a sophisticated and complex marriage of aerospace and marine insurance risks, so it called for an innovative approach. The Lloyd's market was the obvious choice."
