At the time of writing, it's over six months since the Atlantis flew its final mission, bringing an end to the 30-year reign of Nasa's iconic Space Shuttle programme.
With only two major, albeit tragic, failures of the space vehicle in some 135 missions, the programme has helped to usher in an era of regular manned spaceflight on re-usable vehicles, whose logical conclusion is the development of popular spaceflight as a commercial reality.
The shuttle gave the space sector a glimpse of the possibilities for a vehicle that could combine the multiple activities of launching satellites and interplanetary probes; conducting scientific experiments in the vacuum of space; and running construction, supply and servicing missions to the International Space Station, before returning to earth like a conventional aircraft.
And then there is the regular complement of commercial payloads being launched into space, notably satellites. Since their peak in the late 1990s, launches have settled into a steady rate of around 20 or so new satellites per year. The explosion of satellite television, mobile communications and increased bandwidth for online viewing, gaming and communications has been a boon to the aerospace insurance industry and a staple of the specialist space underwriter.
Please click here to download the 2012 World Space Risk Review.