Legal and Policy Dimension of UK Spaceports

From a virtual standing start at the turn of the 21st Century, the UK Government has increasingly looked upon space activity as a method of generating significant amounts of economic growth. In 2010, the Innovation and Growth Strategy recognised that the space sector had the potential to deliver sustained economic growth. Accordingly, the UK Space Agency (UKSA) was formed that same year, accompanied by sustained investment, including creating regional ‘catapults’ to commercialise the provision of data from space (The first satellite applications catapult was launched in 2013). This discussion will examine how space policy has shifted towards the reinstatement of a ‘sovereign launch capability’ within the UK, the legal and policy implications of this for the creation of UK spaceports. The analysis will cover the need for the UK to provide the necessary legal framework for the launch industry, discuss and critique that new framework, and consider some of the policy issues that are yet to be resolved.