Spaceport selection, licensing complexity and launch operator constraints in NewSpace

Abstract

The NewSpace sector presents significant regulatory challenges as governments need to find balance between supporting technological innovation, complying to international obligations and ensuring public safety. National space laws translate commitment from international treaties into enforceable domestic regulations, aiming to ensure accountability while fostering the growth of the private sector. This paper explores two key themes, drawing from the authors’ experience with launch operators and spaceports, based on previous involvement in space licensing processes. First, the coexistence of national and regional space laws is examined through the cases of the Italian space law and the Space Industry Act 2018 in the United Kingdom. These examples highlight the collaborative efforts of governments, legal experts, and industry stakeholders in crafting regulatory frameworks for commercial operations. The emergence of a unified European space law, targeting resilience, safety, and sustainability, partially overlaps with existing national space laws, creating legal and procedural complexity. Coordination between national and European levels is essential but poses challenges for applicants facing already overlapping jurisdictions. Second, the impact of regulatory complexity on launch site selection is analysed in a wider context. From the perspective of a launch operator, factors influencing the selection of a spaceport include the intricacy of licensing procedures, requirements on safety-critical systems, liability frameworks, and stakeholder mapping within airspace, maritime, and environmental authorities. Based on practical experience, the authors identify critical trade-offs, for example the assessment of regulatory delays versus potential financial benefits. Lessons learned emphasize the importance of securing third-party liability insurance for space activities, aligning engineering and legal processes, and proactively engaging stakeholders to avoid licensing delays. The authors recommend that early applicants and operators share insights to improve regulatory processes and optimize licensing outcomes in a complex and evolving legal landscape.