The countdown to launch of the insurance – which will cost between $700 (€518) and $10,000 (€7,399) depending on the coverage requested – will coincide with the expected start of commercial near-space flights next year by the Virgin Galactic company.

Virgin Galactic, which is owned by the Virgin Group and its boss Richard Branson, plans to charge customers $200,000 (€147,927) for the privilege of a brief flight to the edge of where outer space begins.

There the tourists will experience weightlessness and the blackness of space, almost like astronauts.

Erick Morazin, an Allianz account director, told Reuters that Allianz had about 20 different policies to cover everything from medical problems to incidents with luggage although he declined to go into detail.

“We’re looking into space tourism as a new market for the next generation of travellers,” Morazin told Reuters.

Though there are several firms that want to take paying customers to outer space, Virgin Galactic has been among the most aggressive and widely recognised.

In October it selected its first “commercial astronaut pilot” – a former US military veteran – after a worldwide competition.

The Local/mdm