The Space Industry Regulations 2021
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 2021/792 |
2021 No. 792
Space Industry
The Space Industry Regulations 2021
Made 8th July 2021
Coming into force 29th July 2021
The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred by—
(a) sections 2(7), 3(5), 4(2) and (4), 5(2)(a) to (c), 7(6)(a) to (e), 8(5) to (7), 9(2), (3), (5) and (6), 10(b), 13(3), 16(1) and (2)(a) to (c), 17(1) and (3), 18(1), (4) and (5), 19(1), 23(1), 26(3), 34(3)(a), (5) and (6), 35(5)(b), 36(3)(a), 54, 56(4), 59(2), 66(1) and (3), 68(1) to (3) of,
(b) Schedule 2 to,
(c) paragraphs 1(1), 1(3)(a) and (b), 2(1) and (3), 3(1) and (2), 5(a), 6(1)(c) and (3) of Schedule 3 to, and
(d) paragraphs 1(1), (2), (4) and (5) of Schedule 5 to,
the Space Industry Act 20181, makes the following Regulations.
In accordance with section 4(2) of that Act, the Secretary of State is satisfied that in the cases set out in these Regulations, the requirement for an operator licence2is not necessary to secure public safety, to secure the health and safety of individuals taking part in spaceflight activities in a role or capacity prescribed under section 17(1) or to secure compliance with the international obligations of the United Kingdom.
In accordance with section 68(7) of that Act, the Secretary of State has carried out a public consultation.
In accordance with section 68(6) and (7) of that Act, a draft of this instrument and a report about the consultation have been laid before Parliament.
In accordance with section 68(6) of that Act, the draft has been approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.
PART 1
General
Citation, commencement and extent
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Space Industry Regulations 2021 and come into force on the twenty-first day after the day on which they are made.
(2) These Regulations extend to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Interpretation
2.—(1) In these Regulations—
“the Act” means the Space Industry Act 2018 and a reference to a section without more is a reference to a section of the Act;
“accident” includes any fortuitous or unexpected event by which the safety of any launch vehicle or person is threatened, and “spaceflight accident” means an accident—
(a) arising out of, or in the course of, spaceflight activities, and
(b) occurring—
(i) in or over the United Kingdom, or
(ii) elsewhere, if any of the circumstances referred to in regulation 16 of the Spaceflight Activities (Investigation of Spaceflight Accidents) Regulations 20213apply;
“accountable manager” means the individual appointed under regulation 7(1)(a), 8(1) or 11(1)(c);
“aerodrome certificate” means a certificate issued under the Aerodromes Regulation;
“Aerodromes Regulation” means Commission Regulation (EU) No. 139/2014of 12th February 2014 laying down requirements and administrative procedures related to aerodromes pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council;
“Aircrew Regulation” means Commission Regulation (EU) No. 1178/2011of 3rd November 2011 laying down technical requirements and administrative procedures related to civil aviation aircrew pursuant to Regulation (EC) No. 216/2008of the European Parliament and of the Council;
“air traffic controller” means an individual acting as an air traffic controller in pursuance of a licence granted under or by virtue of an enactment;
“blast overpressure” means pressure above normal atmospheric pressure as the result of a shock wave caused by an explosion or detonation;
“CAA licensed” in relation to an aerodrome means an aerodrome which is licensed under an Air Navigation Order4;
“cabin crew” means individuals who take part in spaceflight activities on board a launch vehicle to perform duties assigned by the spaceflight operator or the pilot in command of the launch vehicle, but who are not members of the flight crew;
“carrier aircraft” means an aircraft which is carrying a launch vehicle which is to separate from that aircraft before the aircraft lands, except in—
(a) regulations 2(2)(b), 15, 27(2)(d), 36(6)(c), 80, 84(1)(b) and 161,
(b) Parts 9, 11 and 14, and
(c) paragraph 4(c) of Schedule 1, paragraph 12 of Schedule 5, and paragraph 6 of Schedule 8;
“certified” in relation to an aerodrome means an aerodrome in respect of which an aerodrome certificate is in force;
“crew”, except in Part 9, means—
(a) members of the cabin crew, and
(b) members of the flight crew;
“current risk assessment” means—
(a) if the risk assessment has not been revised and accepted by the regulator in accordance with regulations 80 and 82, the risk assessment, or
(b) if the risk assessment has been revised and accepted by the regulator in accordance with regulations 80 and 82, that revised risk assessment;
“dangerous goods” means any article or substance which is identified as such in the 2021-2022 English language edition of the Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air5, approved and published by decision of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Authority but does not include propellants or other substances necessary for the normal functioning of the launch vehicle;
“day” means a calendar day;
“designated range” means the range identified by the licensee pursuant to regulation 46(1) in respect of the operator’s spaceflight activities;
“emergency services” means—
(a) police, fire, rescue and ambulance services, and
(b) Her Majesty’s Coastguard;
“flight crew” means individuals who take part in spaceflight activities on board a launch vehicle as a pilot or flight engineer of the launch vehicle;
“flight envelope” means the expected set of trajectories of the launch vehicle taking account of variations to those trajectories and any deviation from those trajectories within which the operator’s spaceflight activities can be carried out safely;
“flight safety system” means a system, including all hardware and software, that provides a controlled means of ending the flight of a launch vehicle for the purposes of ensuring that the operator’s spaceflight activities are carried out safely;
“flight termination personnel” means the persons who are not on board the launch vehicle and operate, or oversee the operation of, a flight safety system which is not an autonomous flight safety system;
“fragmentation debris” means debris that is emitted as a result of an explosion or deflagration;
“ground control at the spaceport or other place” means a site at a spaceport6or other place from which spaceflight activities are controlled or are to be controlled but does not include a mission management facility;
“ground support equipment” means equipment including any hardware and software which is used on the ground or other place to assemble, integrate, test, transport, access, handle, maintain, calibrate, verify, protect or service a launch vehicle;
“hazardous material” includes any propellant, whether solid, liquid or gas, any radioactive material or any substance or material prescribed as a hazardous substance for the purposes of the Planning (Hazardous Substances) Act 19907, the Planning (Hazardous Substances) (Scotland) Act 19978or the Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 20119by regulations made under those Acts10;
“hazardous material storage facility” has the meaning given in regulation 158(1);
“hazardous pre-flight and post-flight operations” means any operation or activity at a spaceport, the carrying out of which involves a risk to any person from blast overpressure, fragmentation debris, thermal radiation or toxic release;
“Her Majesty’s forces” has the same meaning as in the Armed Forces Act 200611;
“horizontal spaceport” means a spaceport from which spaceflight activities requiring the use of a runway may be carried out by virtue of a spaceport licence12;
“human factors” means the human and individual capabilities, characteristics and limitations which influence behaviour or the performance of tasks in a way which may affect the safety of licensed activities;
“human occupant” means a member of the crew or a spaceflight participant;
“intelligence service” means—
(a) the Security Service;
(b) the Secret Intelligence Service;
(c) the Government Communications Headquarters;
(d) any part of Her Majesty’s forces, or of the Ministry of Defence, which engages in intelligence activities;
“investigator-in-charge” means an individual charged, on the basis of the individual’s qualifications, with responsibility for the organisation, conduct and control of a safety investigation;
“launch director” means the individual appointed by the holder of a launch operator licence under regulation 9(3)(a);
“launch operator licence” means an operator licence13which authorises a person to carry out spaceflight activities that include launching a launch vehicle or launching a carrier aircraft and a launch vehicle;
“launch operator licensee” means the holder of a launch operator licence;
“launch vehicle”, other than in references to a “US launch vehicle”, means—
(a) a craft to which section 1(5) applies and the component parts of that craft, or
(b) a space object14which is a vehicle and the component parts of that vehicle,
that is used for the purpose of the proposed spaceflight activities or the operator’s spaceflight activities, as applicable, but does not include a payload carried by the launch vehicle;
“licensed activities”, except in Parts 5 and 10 and in Schedule 4, means the activities which a person is authorised to carry out by virtue of an operator licence, a spaceport licence or a range control licence15;
“licensee” means the holder of an operator licence, a spaceport licence or a range control licence under the Act, except in—
(a) the defined terms—
(i) “launch operator licensee”,
(ii) “proposed spaceport licensee”,
(iii) “range control licensee”,
(iv) “return operator licensee”,
(v) “spaceport licensee”, and
(vi) “US licensee”,
(b) Parts 6 and 7, and
(c)...
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