Charter
2 known investors
Charter Space builds software and insurance infrastructure for spacecraft programs, including an AI-assisted space underwriting platform.
Also known as Charter Space · Charter Space Technologies
Founders & leadership
Investors · 2
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Charter (Charter Space) is a California-based space program management company that combines software for spacecraft development with risk and insurance products for space assets. Its core product, an operating system called Ubik, manages complex space programs by recording inputs and data generated during the manufacturing process of satellites and other spacecraft, acting as a single source of truth for mission-critical program data. The company pairs this program data with an AI-powered underwriting tool intended to automate parts of the process of creating insurance policies for space assets.
The company has progressively moved from software into insurance distribution. In March 2025 it opened early access to a space insurance product developed with several large space insurers, and in February 2026 it launched its own nationally licensed insurance brokerage, the Charter Interplanetary Risk Corporation (CIRC), to place coverage for space companies' missions and underlying businesses. Its founder and CEO, Yuk Chi Chan, has publicly described Charter as a space insurance company that insures space companies "on the ground and in the air," and has argued that bespoke, manually underwritten space insurance cannot accommodate rising launch volumes and novel or smaller spacecraft. The Commercial Space Federation, which admitted Charter as a space supply chain member in June 2026, also attributed to the company expertise in space-based semiconductor manufacturing alongside specialized risk solutions.
Business model
Charter provides software for managing spacecraft programs and, increasingly, insurance products and brokerage services for space assets. Following its acquisition of Plover Parametrics, the CEO stated the company would place policies directly rather than relying on intermediaries, and in February 2026 it established a nationally licensed brokerage, CIRC, to secure coverage for space companies.
Traction
Ubik beta testing began in late September 2024 with OHB Sweden, Oligo Space, Esper Satellite Imagery and Digantara, plus select NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory project management teams; Esper's CEO said the product was significantly improving its engineering and mission management. The insurance product opened for early access in March 2025 in collaboration with five large space insurers, and the company acquired Plover Parametrics in October 2025 and launched the CIRC brokerage in February 2026.
Latest developments
In February 2026 Charter launched the Charter Interplanetary Risk Corporation, a nationally licensed insurance brokerage for space companies. In June 2026 it joined the Commercial Space Federation as a space supply chain member, was covered by SpaceNews in connection with GEO cancellations and the space insurance market, and its founder and CEO Yuk Chi Chan appeared on Fox News Live to discuss SpaceX's stock market debut and the space economy.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, risks & controversies
Market position
Charter positions itself as infrastructure for the financialization of the space economy, seeking to replace bespoke, manual space insurance underwriting with a higher-volume, more automated model as launch cadence increases and spacecraft become more novel and smaller. It works alongside major incumbent insurers rather than solely competing with them.
Technology
Charter's Ubik operating system manages complex space programs by capturing inputs and data during the manufacturing of satellites and other spacecraft. The company combines this program data with an AI-powered underwriting tool to automate parts of space insurance policy creation. Ubik entered beta testing in late September 2024, with a 2.0 version subsequently announced.
Go-to-market
Charter has used industry conferences and startup competitions for visibility, including being named a SXSW Pitch 2025 finalist in the Security, GovTech & Space category, launching its insurance product at SXSW in March 2025, and reaching the top 20 and then top 5 of TechCrunch Startup Battlefield at Disrupt 2025. It has also pursued partnerships with established insurers and reinsurers, joined the Commercial Space Federation, and its CEO appears in trade and mainstream media including SpaceNews, Payload, the Infinite Loops podcast and Fox News Live.
Space companies including satellite manufacturers and operators, Earth-observation constellation builders, and government space program teams. Named beta users of Ubik include OHB Sweden, Oligo Space, Esper Satellite Imagery, Digantara, and select project management teams at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Geography
Headquartered in California, with customers and beta users in Europe, Australia, India and the United States, and membership in the U.S. Commercial Space Federation.
Risks & controversies
Coverage notes that the space insurance market has faced disruption, with GEO order cancellations complicating its recovery, and that traditional bespoke underwriting practices may not scale to higher launch volumes — the market conditions Charter's products address.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Timeline · 9
launches, deals, and filingsThe Commercial Space Federation welcomed Charter Space as a space supply chain member, citing expertise in space-based semiconductor manufacturing and specialized risk solutions.
Charter launched CIRC, a nationally licensed insurance brokerage to help space companies secure coverage for their missions and underlying businesses.
Charter announced at TechCrunch Disrupt the acquisition of Plover Parametrics, a Y Combinator-backed insurtech originally focused on climate parametric products, to enable it to place insurance policies directly rather than through intermediaries.
Charter partnered with five of the largest space insurers worldwide, including Munich Re, AXA XL, ASIC and Lloyd's broker Price Forbes, to build a system aimed at increasing access to insurance across the space industry.
Charter announced early access to its space insurance product at SXSW, developed with five of the largest space insurers including Munich Re, AXA XL, ASIC and Lloyd's of London broker Price Forbes.
OHB Sweden, Oligo Space, Esper Satellite Imagery and Digantara, along with select project management teams at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, began beta testing Charter's Ubik operating system in late September 2024.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- News - Chartercharter.space · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Charter do?
- Charter Space builds software and insurance infrastructure for spacecraft programs, including an AI-assisted space underwriting platform.
- Who founded Charter?
- Charter was founded by yukun yin, Yuk Chi Chan.
- Who are Charter's investors?
- Charter's investors include Vibe Capital, Hike Ventures.