Space Industry Act 2018

41 Power to restrict use of land temporarily

(1) The Secretary of State may by order temporarily restrict or prohibit the use of a specified area of land or water as a place for the arrival and departure of aircraft or spacecraft if satisfied that it is appropriate to do so—

(a) to secure that a specified launch or landing may be safely carried out at a specified spaceport, or

(b) to prevent a specified launch or landing at a specified spaceport from endangering persons or property.

(2) An order under subsection (1) may not restrict or prohibit the use of an area of tidal waters that is beyond those of the territorial sea adjacent to the United Kingdom.

(3) An order under subsection (1) must specify the period, or periods, during which the use of the specified area of land or water is restricted or prohibited.

(4) Schedule 6 makes further provision in relation to orders under subsection (1).

In that Schedule—

(a) Part 1 applies to orders under this section that do not prohibit or restrict the use of water (“land orders”);

(b) Part 2 applies to orders under this section that are not land orders.

(5) It is an offence to contravene a provision of an order under subsection (1).

(6) An offence under subsection (5) committed on tidal waters outside the ordinary jurisdiction of a court of summary jurisdiction may be tried and punished by such a court as if it had been committed in the nearest part of the United Kingdom that is within the jurisdiction of such a court.

(7) Subsection (6), as it applies in relation to Scotland, does not confer jurisdiction on any court of summary jurisdiction other than the sheriff court.

(8) Proceedings for an offence under subsection (5) may be instituted—

(a) in England and Wales, only by or with the consent of the Secretary of State or the Director of Public Prosecutions;

(b) in Northern Ireland, only by or with the consent of the Secretary of State or the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.

(9) In this section—

• “launch or landing” means a launch or landing of a spacecraft or carrier aircraft;

• “specified” means specified in an order under subsection (1).