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UNLOCKING COMMERCIAL SPACEFLIGHT for the UK Consultation on Draft Regulations to Implement the Space Industry Act 2018

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UNLOCKING COMMERCIAL SPACEFLIGHT for the UK Consultation on Draft Regulations to Implement the Space Industry Act 2018 UNLOCKING COMMERCIAL SPACEFLIGHT FOR THE UK Consultation on draft regulations to implement the Space Industry Act 2018 Closing date: 21 October 2020 © Crown copyright 2020 This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: [email protected]. Where we have identified any third-party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at: [email protected] 1 Contents Executive Summary _________________________________________________________ 6 Introduction ______________________________________________________________ 6 Why we are consulting _____________________________________________________ 7 How to respond ___________________________________________________________ 8 Confidentiality and data protection ____________________________________________ 9 Quality assurance _________________________________________________________ 9 Context and Background Information ___________________________________________ 10 The future of spaceflight in the UK ___________________________________________ 10 The Outer Space Act 1986 _________________________________________________ 11 The Space Industry Act 2018 _______________________________________________ 11 Pre-consultation engagement _______________________________________________ 15 Structure of the instruments and guidance _____________________________________ 16 The regulator ___________________________________________________________ 18 Safety and the ALARP principle _____________________________________________ 18 International context ______________________________________________________ 19 Legislative process _______________________________________________________ 21 The Space Industry Regulations_______________________________________________ 22 Part 1: Preliminary _______________________________________________________ 22 Part 2: Appointment of the regulator __________________________________________ 22 Part 3: Grant of a licence – general __________________________________________ 23 Eligibility criteria and prescribed roles _______________________________________ 23 Eligibility criteria________________________________________________________ 23 Prescribed roles _______________________________________________________ 24 Informing the regulator of changes _________________________________________ 25 Exemptions from the need to hold an operator licence __________________________ 26 Grant of a licence: general _______________________________________________ 27 Part 4: Grant of a spaceflight operator licence – risk______________________________ 28 Risks to persons who are not taking part in spaceflight activity ____________________ 28 Risk assessment for crew and spaceflight participants __________________________ 30 Part 5: Grant of a spaceport licence __________________________________________ 32 Location requirements for horizontal spaceports _______________________________ 32 Safety Case requirement _________________________________________________ 32 Safety Clear Zone Requirement ___________________________________________ 33 Siting Assessment ______________________________________________________ 34 2 Members of the public ___________________________________________________ 34 Part 6: Range control services ______________________________________________ 35 Licensee’s organisation and management ___________________________________ 36 Agreements with relevant authorities________________________________________ 37 The range and hazard areas ______________________________________________ 37 Notification requirements _________________________________________________ 37 Quality management system ______________________________________________ 37 Applicable conditions where a spaceflight operator provides range control services to itself ____________________________________________________________________ 38 Part 7: Training, qualifications and medical fitness _______________________________ 38 General ______________________________________________________________ 38 The training manager ___________________________________________________ 41 Training manual________________________________________________________ 41 Training programme ____________________________________________________ 42 Medical fitness_________________________________________________________ 43 Part 8: Safety of operator’s spaceflight activities during the launch operator licence or the return operator licence ____________________________________________________ 44 Relationship with risk regulations __________________________________________ 44 The spaceflight operator’s safety duty _______________________________________ 44 Retention, review and revision of safety case and risk assessment ________________ 46 Demonstrating requirements ______________________________________________ 46 Requirements about the spaceflight operator’s organisation and management and specific safety roles ___________________________________________________________ 46 Requirements about specific safety roles ____________________________________ 46 The safety operations manual _____________________________________________ 47 Preparations for launch, return and other operations ___________________________ 47 Launch, return and other operations ________________________________________ 51 Recording, retaining and preserving information for safety purposes _______________ 52 Emergency response ___________________________________________________ 52 Additional safety requirements for launch vehicles with human occupants ___________ 52 Specific obligations of pilot in command, flight crew or remote pilot, and spaceflight participants ___________________________________________________________ 53 Spaceflight participants and information to be given to a human occupant after the consent form is signed _________________________________________________________ 53 Part 9: Spaceport safety ___________________________________________________ 54 Horizontal spaceport location requirement ___________________________________ 54 Safety case retention and review __________________________________________ 54 Safety clear zones ______________________________________________________ 55 3 Hazardous materials, testing areas and safety equipment _______________________ 56 Organisation and management ____________________________________________ 57 Emergencies __________________________________________________________ 58 Part 10: Security _________________________________________________________ 59 Physical and personnel security ___________________________________________ 60 Cyber security _________________________________________________________ 63 Vetting, clearance, training and qualifications _________________________________ 64 Critical national infrastructure and essential services ___________________________ 65 Security provisions for the protection of US space technology ____________________ 65 Part 11: Informed consent __________________________________________________ 67 Prescribed matters _____________________________________________________ 68 The consent form ______________________________________________________ 68 Information to be given to a human occupant before the consent form is signed ______ 69 Procedural requirements with regard to the signification of consent ________________ 70 Part 12: Liabilities and indemnities ___________________________________________ 71 Who does not have a strict liability right of claim? ______________________________ 72 Cases where a limit on an operator’s liability to indemnify Government will be disapplied 73 Limiting liability for UK launch activities ______________________________________ 73 Part 13: Monitoring and enforcement _________________________________________ 74 Inspectors ____________________________________________________________ 75 Sharing of information and restrictions on disclosure ___________________________ 76 Part 14: Civil Sanctions (stop notices) ________________________________________ 76 Part 15: Occurrence reporting _______________________________________________ 77 Part 16: Duty to inform the regulator __________________________________________ 77 The Spaceflight Activities (Investigation of Spaceflight Accidents) Regulations ___________ 78 Inspectors and the safety investigation authority _______________________________ 79 First steps after the spaceflight accident _____________________________________ 79 The safety investigation and inspectors’ powers _______________________________ 80 Sensitive safety information_______________________________________________ 81 The safety investigation report and safety recommendations _____________________ 81 Contraventions and sanctions _____________________________________________ 82 The Space Industry (Appeals) Regulations ______________________________________ 83 Appealable decisions ___________________________________________________ 83 Permission to appeal ____________________________________________________ 84 Application to intervene __________________________________________________ 84 Determination of application for permission to appeal ___________________________ 85 4 Appeals ______________________________________________________________ 85 Impact assessment_________________________________________________________
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