&gt;NASA self-insures<p>This just means they don&#x27;t insure and instead absorb losses. AFAIK they don&#x27;t even set aside a pool of money like corporate self-insurance tends to do.<p>&gt;CRS missions appear to carry commercial insurance<p>This is to (partially) cover the losses to the commercial space companies, since NASA withholds money in the event of a failure. None of it covers the payload. (Actually at least in Orbital&#x27;s case they get paid a portion of the CRS contract, since there&#x27;s technically two milestones – ignition&#x2F;liftoff and mission success. They lose out on the latter.[1])<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;spacenews.com&#x2F;42658orbital-sciences-entitled-to-partial-nasa-payment-for-antares-failure&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;spacenews.com&#x2F;42658orbital-sciences-entitled-to-parti...</a>