The Space Industry Regulations 2021

CHAPTER 3 Agreements with relevant authorities

Relevant agreements

43.—(1) Where the licensee’s range control services consist of or include monitoring the designated range, before commencing those services, the licensee must enter into an agreement in writing (a “relevant agreement”) with the following persons (each a “relevant authority”)—

(a) the person specified in regulation 44(a), and

(b) where United Kingdom territorial waters fall within the designated range, each of the persons specified in regulation 44(b) and (c)

and provide a copy of such agreement to the regulator.

(2) A relevant agreement must—

(a) relate to the provision of the licensee’s range control services in respect of the operator’s spaceflight activities at the designated site or place;

(b) set out the terms under which the licensee will co-operate with the relevant authority to ensure the effective and safe operation of the range prior to and during the operator’s spaceflight activities including—

(i) the information which the licensee must provide to the relevant authority in order for the relevant authority to fulfil its function of issuing notifications to third party air users and mariners;

(ii) the time period within which and the format in which such information must be provided;

(iii) the procedures for communication between the parties to the relevant agreement.

(3) The licensee must review the relevant agreement on an annual basis to determine whether, having regard to its operation over the preceding period of 12 months, any amendment is appropriate or necessary and the first review must take place on the first anniversary (with subsequent reviews taking place on each subsequent anniversary) of the date of the relevant agreement.

(4) If, following such review, the licensee considers that an amendment to the agreement is appropriate or necessary, it must take all reasonable steps to agree an amendment to the relevant agreement with the relevant authority which it considers reasonably necessary to address matters arising out of the review.

(5) The licensee must not terminate or enter into any amendment to a relevant agreement unless it has notified the regulator and obtained the regulator’s prior written approval to such termination or amendment.

(6) If a relevant agreement is terminated by a party other than the licensee (a “terminated agreement”), the licensee must, without delay, notify the regulator and take steps to enter into an agreement in place of the terminated agreement (a “replacement agreement”) and the provisions of this regulation apply to the replacement agreement as they applied to the terminated agreement.

Relevant authorities

44.  The relevant authorities are—

(a) the appropriate air navigation service provider for aircraft flying in the volume of airspace falling within the designated range;

(b) Her Majesty’s Coastguard or such other appropriate management organisation having responsibility for the United Kingdom territorial waters, if any, falling within the designated range;

(c) the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office(1).

Communication with relevant authorities

45.—(1) The licensee must establish and maintain appropriate means of communication with the relevant authorities to enable—

(a) the parties to the relevant agreements to co-ordinate the monitoring of the movements of third party air users and mariners which might pose a hazard to the operator’s spaceflight activities or to which the operator’s spaceflight activities might pose a hazard;

(b) warnings to be issued to third party air users and mariners or other action to be taken with a view to avoiding or mitigating any loss or damage which may otherwise be caused—

(i) to the operator’s spaceflight activities by such third parties’ actions, or

(ii) to such third parties resulting from the operator’s spaceflight activities.

(2) The licensee must ensure that the means of communication which it has established with the relevant authority referred to in regulation 44(a) is a communication network which permits real time contact between their respective personnel during the operator’s spaceflight activities.

(1)

“the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office” is an executive agency of the Ministry of Defence.