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Space Law & Regulation

International treaties, EU, US, and national frameworks

International treaties and UN principles

EU programme law and proposed EU Space Act

US launch, spectrum, remote sensing and debris regulation

UK, France, Japan, Australia and other national models

Overall hierarchy

Level 1 — Public international space law. The Outer Space Treaty system sits at the apex: Outer Space Treaty 1967, Rescue Agreement 1968, Liability Convention 1972, Registration Convention 1976, and Moon Agreement 1984 in force.

Level 2 — UN soft-law principles and political arrangements. UN principles, long-term sustainability guidelines, and newer plurilateral instruments such as the Artemis Accords shape interpretation and practice but do not displace the treaty base.

Level 3 — Regional frameworks. In Europe, the key current binding act is Regulation (EU) 2021/696 establishing the Union Space Programme and EUSPA; the Commission’s EU Space Act proposal would be the first broad EU-wide regulatory regime.

Level 4 — National authorisation and supervision laws. States discharge their Outer Space Treaty duties through national launch, operation, remote sensing, debris, safety, insurance and registration laws.

Level 5 — Technical licensing and standards. Agency regulations, licence conditions, debris mitigation rules, export control rules, spectrum coordination and cybersecurity requirements make the system operational.

UN treaty backbone

Treaty	Adopted / in force	Main rule	Why it matters
Outer Space Treaty	1967 / 10 Oct 1967	Non-appropriation, peaceful use, state responsibility, jurisdiction and control.	Constitutional baseline of space law.
Rescue Agreement	1968 / 3 Dec 1968	Rescue and return of astronauts; return of space objects.	Implements OST obligations on assistance and return.
Liability Convention	1972 / 1 Sep 1972	Absolute liability for surface/aircraft damage; fault liability in space.	Core damages allocation regime.
Registration Convention	1975 / 15 Sep 1976	Registration of launched objects with national registry and UN.	Anchor for jurisdiction, identification and transparency.
Moon Agreement	1979 / 11 Jul 1984	Rules for moon and celestial body activities.	Legally important, but has limited uptake compared with OST.

International connections

Treaty core

OST creates state responsibility and requires authorization and continuing supervision of non-governmental space activities.

Liability + registration

These treaties operationalise attribution, supervision and claims handling.

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Regional and national laws

EU and domestic laws exist mainly to implement these treaty obligations in concrete licensing systems.

Political instruments

Artemis Accords explicitly reinforce the Outer Space Treaty, Registration Convention and Rescue Agreement rather than replacing them.

Interpretive point: most modern disputes about lunar resources, debris mitigation, traffic coordination and private actors are not about whether treaties exist, but how these old treaty principles should be operationalised through new licensing and technical rules.

Artemis Accords and soft law

Political instrument

The Artemis Accords were launched in 2020 as a common set of principles for civil exploration and use of outer space.

Treaty linkage

NASA states the Accords reinforce the Outer Space Treaty, Registration Convention, Rescue and Return Agreement, plus responsible-behaviour norms.

Current footprint

NASA reports that Oman became the 61st signatory on 26 January 2026.

Unlike the UN treaties, the Accords are not universal treaty law. Their legal relevance is practical and geopolitical: they influence how partner states draft domestic rules for lunar activities, interoperability, transparency, deconfliction and resource-related operations.

EU layer

Act / initiative	Status	Role	Connection
Regulation (EU) 2021/696	In force	Establishes the Union Space Programme and EUSPA for 2021-2027.	Operational and governance backbone for Galileo, EGNOS, Copernicus, SSA/GOVSATCOM elements and programme funding.
EU Space Act proposal	Proposed on 25 Jun 2025	Would create harmonised EU-wide rules on safety, resilience and environmental sustainability.	Designed to replace fragmented national approaches with a single market framework.
IRIS2 / related programme acts	Being implemented under programme architecture	Secure connectivity constellation and procurement framework within wider EU space governance.	Depends on programme law; future EU Space Act could add horizontal operator obligations.

EU Space Act status

Planned / not yet in force

European Commission proposal

The Commission launched the EU Space Act proposal on 25 June 2025. It is described as the first comprehensive EU-wide regulatory framework for space activities.

Entry into force: not yet fixed; proposal stage only.

Three pillars

Safety: tracking, debris mitigation, secure access to space.
Resilience: cybersecurity and continuity obligations.
Sustainability: environmental impact reduction and support for in-orbit servicing and debris removal.

For a hierarchy chart, place the EU Space Act below the treaty layer and above national law, because it would harmonise market-entry and operational duties across Member States rather than replace the international treaty architecture.

United States architecture

Launch & reentry

51 U.S.C. chapter 509 is the core federal statute for commercial space launch activities and underpins FAA/AST licensing.

Remote sensing

Title 51 remote sensing law and NOAA regulations at 15 CFR part 960 govern private Earth remote sensing systems.

Spectrum & debris

The FCC regulates communications satellites and applies orbital-debris related conditions through its licensing role.

The US model is functionally fragmented: one treaty-responsibility state, but multiple licensing agencies. FAA handles launch and reentry, NOAA handles remote sensing, and FCC handles communications spectrum and many debris-related licensing conditions.

US hierarchy in practice

Layer	Key source	What it governs	Link upward
Treaty obligation	OST, Liability, Registration	State responsibility, supervision, liability and registration.	US domestic law implements treaty duties.
Federal statute	51 U.S.C. ch. 509	Commercial launches, launch sites, reentry, licensing and review.	FAA/AST licensing machinery.
Agency regulation	14 CFR chapter III; 15 CFR part 960; FCC rules	Operational licensing detail, safety, environmental and debris conditions, remote sensing controls.	Specific licences and waiver decisions.
Licence conditions	Case-specific approvals	Mission profiles, orbital debris plans, disposal, imagery limits, reporting.	Actual continuing supervision.

United Kingdom

Outer Space Act 1986 + Space Industry Act 2018

The older Outer Space Act covered overseas activities by UK entities; the Space Industry Act 2018 created the framework for domestic spaceflight, sub-orbital activity and spaceports.

Space Industry Regulations 2021

These regulations put the detailed UK spaceflight licensing regime into place, including spaceports, operator licensing, safety cases, environmental assessments and investigation arrangements.

This is a strong example of treaty implementation through a national integrated launch regime: the Act states the framework, and the 2021 regulations operationalise it for licensing, safety, environment, insurance and accident investigation.

France

Framework law

The French Space Operations Act, Law No. 2008-518, was signed on 4 June 2008 and provides the legal framework for space operations from French territory and by French entities.

Implementing rules

Decree No. 2009-643 and technical regulations fill in the authorisation and technical compliance system.

Recent update

CNES notes a major revision of technical regulations on 28 June 2024, including conjunction assessment, in-orbit services and constellation requirements.

France is one of the clearest mature national models: treaty obligations are converted into a highly technical domestic safety and operations regime, supervised with CNES expertise and ministerial authority.

Japan

Act	Year / effect	Function	Connection
Space Activities Act	2016 / took effect 2018	Licensing for launch businesses and satellite control/operation businesses.	Basic private-operator framework.
Satellite Remote Sensing Act	2016 / took effect 2018	Permission and controls for remote sensing devices and data provision.	Security-sensitive overlay on operation licensing.
Space Resources Act	Later national development	Resource-activity legal framing alongside basic space law.	Shows how states are moving beyond classic launch law.

Japanese reporting to the UN makes clear that these laws are presented as domestic implementation of obligations under the relevant UN space treaties.

Australia and other states

Australia

The Space (Launches and Returns) Act 2018 regulates civil space-related activities carried out from or to Australia or by Australians overseas.

National database

UNOOSA’s national space law database shows the growing spread of domestic laws across states, reflecting the obligation to authorise and supervise non-governmental activity.

Emerging pattern

Newer states often combine launch authorisation, insurance/liability, debris mitigation, remote sensing and registration rules into a single framework or close package of acts.

Cross-system comparison

International

Sets baseline principles, state responsibility and liability.

EU

Currently programme-centric; moving toward horizontal regulation through the proposed EU Space Act.

US

Multi-agency licensing architecture with strong agency specialisation.

Other national systems

Usually single-state authorisation statutes implementing treaty obligations directly.

Treaty dependence

Degree of national technical detail

Current fragmentation risk

Where planned legislation sits

Item	Jurisdiction	Status	Entry into force	Placement in hierarchy
EU Space Act	EU	Proposed on 25 Jun 2025	TBD	Below treaty law, above fragmented national space laws.
Japanese amendments to Space Activities Act	Japan	Government planning amendments reported in 2025	TBD	Would refine national licensing layer.
Further debris / sustainability updates	Multiple states	Ongoing	Varies	Technical implementation layer, not treaty layer.

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How to read the system

Start with the Outer Space Treaty system, then ask which state or region is authorising the operator, then identify the sectoral regulator: launch, remote sensing, communications/spectrum, debris, or programme security. That reveals the real compliance chain for almost any commercial mission.

Treaty baseline

Regional rules

National licence

Technical conditions