National Space Legislation in India: Curbing the Regulatory Swamp

India has indelible space time achievements like Chandrayaan-3 and more importantly the upcoming Gaganyaan which has made it very clear that it is a technological powerhouse. The only important piece missing however is a comprehensive national space law. The process of creating a robust legal framework is now necessary in order to maintain the leading responsible position of India as a spacefaring nation.

The Domestic Law Need

The international law regarding space, mostly the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, contains the main principles. It affirms space to be open to all exploration, it rejects claims of national sovereignty in space, and importantly, it charges nations with duties of regulating the activities of their non-state actors. Nonetheless, these general principles need to be codified in national law to be effective and to offer guidance in a contemporary commercial space environment.

India rounded out Progress Phases

India is systematically developing her regulatory framework

• The Indian Space Policy 2023 has opened the gates at the participation of lessors.
• There is the regulator IN-SPACe , which has already started issuing guidelines and accreditations.
• A Space safety Catalogue of Standards has been published.

Nevertheless Space Activities Acts have yet to be finalised, a situation that leaves much doubt open.

The Big Issues of the Industry

Lack of an overall legislation poses practical challenges:

• Weak Regulator: IN-SPACe is not strongly backed up statutorily and does not have very strong enforcement powers.
• Procedural Delays: Lack of clarity of licensing procedures and inter-ministerial approvals lengthens quick implementation of projects.
• Liability Uncertainty: Transparent regulation of financial responsibility and insurance is not in existence and this makes the private companies more at risk.
• Unsolved Problems: Space debris, intellectual property rights and dispute resolution are among the areas not well regulated.

The Road to higher things.

The urgency to enact space law is required to give stability of investment and innovation through a comprehensive law. Such a law will represent a surety in terms of domestic governance in space, but international agreement on space-based security has long been a challenge due to its very nature of geopolitics. To capitalise on the space potential, India has to allow its laws to take off as well.