The Spaceflight Activities (Investigation of Spaceflight Accidents) Regulations 2021

Interpretation

29.  In this Part—

“relevant person” means—

(a)

an Inspector,

(b)

any other officer of the Secretary of State,

(c)

an accredited representative,

(d)

any person who has been involved in the recovery of the launch vehicle, and

(e)

any person to whom sensitive safety information has been made available by such an Inspector, accredited representative or other officer;

“sensitive safety information” includes—

(a)

all statements taken by Inspectors from persons in the course of the safety investigation,

(b)

records revealing the identity of persons who have given evidence to Inspectors in the course of a safety investigation,

(c)

any information collected by Inspectors which is of a sensitive and personal nature, including information concerning the health of individuals,

(d)

material produced by Inspectors and others assisting in the safety investigation during the course of the investigation such as notes and opinions expressed about the analysis of information,

(e)

drafts of preliminary, interim or final reports or statements,

(f)

information and evidence provided by investigators from other states in accordance with international standards and recommended practices, if their safety investigation authority has requested that this material is to be treated as sensitive safety information in accordance with this Part,

(g)

voice and image recordings and transcripts of such recordings from—

(i)

the launch vehicle,

(ii)

the mission management facility from which spaceflight activities carried out by the launch vehicle were controlled, or

(iii)

ground control at the spaceport or other place from which such activities were controlled,

(h)

any communications between persons involved in the operation of the launch vehicle,

(i)

US Technical Data, and

(j)

occurrence reports referred to in Part 16 of the Space Industry Regulations 2021(1), or any information in occurrence reports save to the extent that information is in the public domain;

“US Technical Data” has the meaning given in the Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on technology safeguards associated with United States’ participation in space launches from the United Kingdom entered into on 16th June 2020(2).

(1)

S.I. 2021/****.

(2)

CP 307. The agreement may be obtained in hard copy from the Commercial Space Directorate, UK Space Agency, 10 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0NN or found on the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office treaties database at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ukusa-agreement-in-the-form-of-an-exchange-of-notes-between-the-united-kingdom-and-the-united-states-of-america-on-technology-safeguards-associated .