Near Space Labs, which built the AI balloon team, hopes to change the way insurance companies assess and respond to natural disasters.
The balloons operate in the stratosphere, at altitudes of 60,000 to 80,000 feet, between commercial aircraft and satellites. Each Swift is capable of capturing images with detail as small as 7 centimeters per pixel, covering an area of up to 1,000 square kilometers in a single flight—the equivalent of five New York boroughs. They provide timely data within hours of a disaster, rather than weeks as with the old method.
Swift not only saves time but also optimizes costs, innovates climate risk assessment, and replaces thousands of drones or outdated aerial methods.
Swift’s imagery helps insurers identify small details, from the condition of a roof after a storm to soil moisture to assess wildfire risk, says CEO Rema Matevosyan. This detailed mapping also expands the ability to monitor once-under-the-radar areas that have become disaster hotspots, like neighborhoods in Colorado.
Matevosyan added that only 6% of the $250 billion worth of damage from Hurricane Helene was covered by insurance, a clear demonstration of the consequences of outdated data. This led to an imbalance in insurance pricing, causing huge losses for companies and forcing them out of the market.
Near Space Labs’ Swift team is not only helping insurers resolve claims quickly, but it’s also opening up opportunities to re-enter previously neglected markets. High-risk areas like Florida, California, and Texas, where major insurers have largely retreated, can be re-evaluated with more accurate information.
The US home insurance industry, already under pressure from rising natural disasters and rising rebuilding costs, is set to record a $15.2 billion loss in 2023 — its worst since 2000. Near Space Labs’ innovation has the potential to dramatically improve this situation, benefiting not only the companies but also the homeowners where the damage occurs.
