The Spaceflight Activities (Investigation of Spaceflight Accidents) Regulations 2021

Protection of information and permitted disclosures

30.—(1) Sensitive safety information may not be disclosed by—

(a) any member of staff of SAIA,

(b) any person called upon to participate in or contribute to a safety investigation,

(c) any other relevant person, or

(d) any person who has received sensitive safety information from a person referred to in sub-paragraph (a), (b) or (c),

except as provided for in this regulation, regulation 32(2)(b), by order of the court under regulation 31, or in the circumstances set out in regulation 41(3).

(2) US Technical Data may only be disclosed with the consent of the Government of the United States after consultation between SAIA and the Government of the United States.

(3) Sensitive safety information may be disclosed to the extent necessary to permit the investigator-in-charge to comply with their obligations under regulations 33 and 34.

(4) Any disclosure made under this regulation must ensure that the anonymity of persons involved in a spaceflight accident is preserved.

(5) SAIA may disclose information (other than sensitive safety information) to the persons referred to in paragraph (6) for the purposes of—

(a) improving the safety of spaceflight activities, or

(b) preventing a spaceflight accident.

(6) The persons referred to in this paragraph are—

(a) the regulator,

(b) the licensee,

(c) persons responsible for the manufacture and maintenance of the launch vehicle involved in the spaceflight accident or for training, or

(d) persons using a launch vehicle of the same type as the launch vehicle involved in the spaceflight accident.

(7) SAIA may disclose factual information obtained during a safety investigation to any international body or national body involved with spaceflight activities, provided that, in doing so, SAIA does not disclose—

(a) sensitive safety information, or

(b) information which might create a conflict of interest between the bodies to whom the information is revealed and the aims of SAIA in pursuing the safety investigation.

(8) Provided that the objective of the safety investigation are not compromised, SAIA may inform victims or their relatives, or associations of victims or their relatives, of, or make public—

(a) any information on factual observations related to the spaceflight accident,

(b) the proceedings of the safety investigation,

(c) preliminary reports or conclusions, or

(d) safety recommendations.

(9) Before making public any information referred to in paragraph (8), SAIA must send that information to the victims and their relatives, or associations of victims or their relatives, in a way which does not compromise the objective of the safety investigation, or any future safety investigation.