The Space Industry Regulations 2021

Propellants etc.: fit for purpose requirement

160.—(1) Where a spaceport licensee is responsible for storing, transporting or handling any hazardous material, it must not cause or permit that hazardous material to be delivered to an installation unless satisfied that—

(a) the installation is capable of storing and dispensing the hazardous material so as not to render it unfit for use in a carrier aircraft, launch vehicle or payload;

(b) the installation is marked in a manner appropriate to the type of hazardous material stored or, if different types are stored in different parts, each part is so marked;

(c) in the case of delivery from a vehicle, a ship or a vessel other than a ship, the hazardous material is of a type appropriate to that installation and is fit for use in a carrier aircraft, launch vehicle or payload.

(2) A spaceport licensee must not cause or permit any hazardous material to be dispensed from an installation that it manages to a carrier aircraft, launch vehicle or payload unless satisfied that it is fit for use in that carrier aircraft, launch vehicle or payload.

(3) Paragraphs (1) and (2) do not apply to any hazardous material which has been removed from a carrier aircraft, launch vehicle or payload and is intended for use in another carrier aircraft, launch vehicle or payload operated by the same operator as the carrier aircraft, launch vehicle or payload from which it has been removed.

(4) The spaceport licensee must keep a written record for each installation that it manages, which must include detailed information about—

(a) the type and quantity of hazardous material delivered and the date of delivery,

(b) any samples taken of the hazardous material and the results of tests of those samples, and

(c) the maintenance and cleaning of the installation.

(5) The spaceport licensee must—

(a) preserve the written record required under paragraph (4) for the period of 12 months beginning with the date of delivery referred to in paragraph (4)(a) or such longer period as the regulator may in a particular case direct, and

(b) produce that record within a reasonable time after being requested to do so by the regulator.

(6) In this regulation, “installation” means any apparatus or container, including a hazardous material storage facility or a vehicle, designed, manufactured or adapted for the storage or transportation of any hazardous material or for the delivery of any such material to a carrier aircraft, launch vehicle or payload.