A Guide to the UK’s Spaceflight Rules and Regulations

A New Era for UK Space

The United Kingdom is re-establishing itself as a launch nation. For decades, the UK has been a world leader in designing and building satellites, but it has always relied on other countries for launch services, sending its technology to pads in the United States, French Guiana, or Kazakhstan. That is changing. A new generation of commercial spaceports and rocket companies is emerging, planning to launch satellites from British soil.

This ambition carries immense responsibility. Sending a rocket into orbit is not a simple task; it’s an inherently high-risk activity. It involves managing controlled explosions, calculating precise trajectories, and protecting the public from potential failures. It also means taking responsibility for the satellites placed in orbit and ensuring they don’t add to the growing problem of space debris.

To manage these challenges, the UK government has created a new, modern regulatory framework. This isn’t just an update to old laws; it’s a complete system built from the ground up for the commercial space age. The cornerstones of this framework are the Space Industry Act 2018 and the Space Industry Regulations 2021.

These documents lay out the rules for any company wanting to build a spaceport, launch a rocket, or operate a satellite from the UK. They establish a single regulator to oversee the industry: the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The entire system is designed to achieve two goals at once: to foster a dynamic and competitive commercial space industry while ensuring that every activity is conducted with the highest regard for safety, security, and environmental protection. This article explains what those rules are, who they apply to, and why they exist.

The Guiding Principle: Safety First

The primary driver behind almost every rule is safety. A launch vehicle is a complex machine, packed with high-energy propellants, moving at speeds of thousands of miles per hour. While the industry has become much more reliable, failures still happen. The regulations are built to ensure that if a failure does occur, it doesn’t harm people, property, or the environment.

The UK’s approach to this is not a simple checklist. The regulator doesn’t just hand a company a list of 1,000 items to tick off. Instead, the system is based on a “safety case” approach.

What is a Safety Case?

A safety case is a structured argument, supported by evidence, that an operator presents to the regulator. It’s the operator’s job to prove that their activity is safe. This document is the heart of any licence application. It must identify all the risks associated with the operation and then demonstrate how those risks will be managed.

The standard used is “As Low As Reasonably Practicable,” or ALARP. This means an operator doesn’t have to remove all risk – that would be impossible. But they must show they’ve done everything reasonably possible to reduce risk, without incurring costs that are grossly disproportionate to the benefit gained.

Let’s imagine a company building a small vertical-launch rocket. Their safety case would have to answer thousands of questions:

• Vehicle Risks: What happens if one engine fails? What if the guidance system goes offline? What if a propellant tank springs a leak? For every potential failure, they must show their mitigation. This could be a redundant system (a backup computer) or a “Flight Termination System” (a way to safely destroy the rocket in flight if it goes off-course).
• Ground Risks: How will the propellant be safely transported to the launch pad? What procedures are in-place to protect ground crew during fueling? What happens if there’s a fire on the pad before launch?
• Public Risks: This is the most important part. The operator must model what happens if the rocket fails at different points in its flight. Where would debris fall? They must calculate a trajectory (the flight path) that ensures any potential debris falls into a pre-defined, unpopulated area, usually a “drop zone” in the ocean.

This safety case is a living document. It’s not just filed and forgotten. If an operator changes their rocket design or their launch procedure, they must update their safety case and have it reviewed by the CAA.

Protecting the Public

The safety case directly informs how the public is protected during a launch. The regulations require operators to establish exclusion zones. These are a set of safety boundaries for air, sea, and land.

• Airspace: During a launch window, the surrounding airspace is closed. The CAA, working with NATS (the UK’s air traffic control provider), will re-route all aircraft around the danger area.
• Marine: For launches over the sea, a large “keep out” zone is established. This is communicated to all shipping in the area to ensure no vessels are in the drop zone for the rocket’s spent stages or in case of an accident.
• Land: While UK spaceports are deliberately located in remote areas (like the Scottish Highlands or islands), there may still be a need for local land-based exclusion zones, such as temporarily closing a coastal path, to protect against any unlikely last-second failure on the pad.

The regulations also introduce a new licensed role: the Range Control provider. This is the team responsible for monitoring the rocket’s flight. They act as the “umpire” of the launch. They watch the rocket’s telemetry (its position and health data) in real-time. If the vehicle veers off its planned, safe trajectory and threatens to leave the pre-approved flight corridor, the range control service has the authority to intervene. This intervention often means activating the Flight Termination System, ensuring the rocket and its payload are destroyed safely before they can endanger a populated area.

Training and Competence

The regulations recognize that safety isn’t just about the hardware; it’s about the people. A company can have the best rocket in the world, but if the team operating it is undertrained or fatigued, the risk increases dramatically.

A key part of the licence application is proving that all personnel in safety-sensitive roles are competent and “fit” for their duties. This includes:

• Training: Operators must have a comprehensive training program. This covers not just normal operations (“how to launch the rocket”) but also emergency procedures (“what to do when X goes wrong”).
• Fatigue Management: Launch campaigns are intense, often involving round-the-clock work. The regulations require operators to have a system for managing staff fatigue, similar to the rules for airline pilots or long-haul truck drivers, to ensure no one is making a safety-related decision when they are exhausted.
• Organisational Culture: The regulator even assesses the company’s “safety culture.” They look for evidence that safety is the top priority, that staff feel empowered to speak up if they see a problem, and that management doesn’t pressure the team to launch if conditions aren’t right.

The Legal Foundation: The Space Industry Act and Regulations

The two key documents that make all of this possible are the Space Industry Act 2018 and the Space Industry Regulations 2021. It helps to think of them as a two-part system.

The Space Industry Act 2018

The Act is the high-level framework. It was passed by Parliament and it grants the government the legal power to regulate spaceflight. It’s the “enabling” law.

Its main functions are to:

1. Create Licensable Activities: It states that you cannot legally conduct spaceflight activities in the United Kingdom without a licence. This includes launching, operating a spaceport, or operating a satellite.
2. Appoint a Regulator: It gives the Secretary of State for Transport the power to appoint a regulator. That regulator has been chosen: the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
3. Set High-Level Duties: It outlines the main objectives for the regulator. The CAA must carry out its functions in a way that secures public safety, protects national security, ensures environmental protection, and complies with the UK’s international obligations (like the Outer Space Treaty).
4. Establish Powers: It gives the regulator the power to grant, refuse, vary, or revoke licences. It also gives them powers of investigation and enforcement, including the ability to issue fines if operators break the rules.

The Space Industry Regulations 2021

If the Act is the “what,” the Regulations are the “how.” This is a much more detailed, 700+ page document that fleshes out the rules set down in the Act. It’s known as “secondary legislation.” It was developed by the Department for Transport in consultation with experts, the CAA, and the space industry itself.

The Regulations get into the specifics. They define the different types of licences, what an applicant must submit for each one, the timelines for assessment, and the precise requirements for things like safety cases, environmental assessments, and security plans. This is the document that a company’s engineers and lawyers will spend most of their time reading.

This two-part structure is smart. The Act (the “what”) is hard to change and requires a full vote in Parliament. The Regulations (the “how”) are easier to update. This means that as technology evolves – with new rocket fuels, new satellite designs, or new operational concepts – the government can update the detailed rules to keep pace, without having to re-write the entire law.

The Licence to Launch: Who Needs What?

The regulations create a “one-stop shop” for licensing, all managed by the CAA. But not everyone needs the same licence. The system is broken down by activity. A company may need one, or it may need several.

The Spaceport Licence

This licence is for the ground infrastructure – the place from which launches happen. It’s a licence for a location. The key is proving the site is safe and the organization running it is competent.

The regulations anticipate two main types of spaceports:

1. Vertical Launch Spaceport: This is the traditional “rocket pad” model. A rocket is placed vertically on a launch mount and flies straight up. Examples of proposed vertical sites in the UK include SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands and Sutherland spaceport on the Scottish mainland. To get a licence, the operator must provide a huge amount of information, including:
   • Site Design: Detailed plans of the launch pad, propellant storage and handling facilities, lightning protection, and the launch control center.
   • Location Analysis: Proof that the location is suitable, with clear flight paths over unpopulated areas (like the North Sea).
   • Emergency Plans: A comprehensive emergency response plan, developed in coordination with local police, fire, and health services.
   • Environmental Plan: An assessment of the environmental impact and a plan to manage it.
2. Horizontal Launch Spaceport: This model, sometimes called “air-launch,” uses a conventional airport (an aerodrome) as its base. A modified carrier aircraft, like a Boeing 747, takes off from a runway with the rocket attached under its wing. Once at high altitude (e.g., 35,000 feet), the aircraft releases the rocket, which then ignites its own motor and flies to space. Spaceport Cornwall, which hosted the first Virgin Orbitlaunch from the UK, is a licensed horizontal launch site. The requirements here are different. Since it’s already an active aerodrome, the operator must show how they will safely integrate these new, unique spaceflight operations with existing passenger or cargo air traffic.

The Launch Operator Licence

This is arguably the most complex and detailed licence. It’s not for the location, but for the activity of launching. This licence is held by the rocket company itself, such as Orbex or Rocket Factory Augsburg.

This licence application is where the safety case, in all its technical detail, is submitted. The regulator’s engineers will scrutinize every aspect of the launch vehicle (the rocket) and the mission plan. They will look at:

• Vehicle Design: The structures, the engines, the software, the electronics.
• Testing: Evidence from ground tests (like “hot-fire” engine tests) and previous flights (if any) that proves the systems work as designed.
• Flight Analysis: The precise trajectory, the drop zones for spent stages, and the analysis of what could go wrong.
• Launch Readiness: The step-by-step “countdown” procedures and the “go/no-go” criteria that must be met before launch.

An operator needs both a licensed spaceport and a licensed launch operator to conduct a mission.

The Orbital Operator Licence

This licence is for operating a satellite in orbit. The UK has been licensing satellite operations for many years under the older Outer Space Act 1986. The new Space Industry Act modernizes this and integrates it into the new framework.

Any company or university in the UK that wants to control a satellite in orbit must have this licence. This is because, under international law, the UK government is responsible for all activities of its “nationals” in space. The licence ensures that operators are behaving responsibly.

Key requirements for an orbital licence include:

• Tracking: The operator must be able to track their satellite and know where it is at all times.
• Control: They must be able to send commands to the satellite.
• Collision Avoidance: They must have a plan to maneuver their satellite if it’s on a collision course with another satellite or piece of space debris.
• End-of-Life Disposal: This is a major focus. The operator must have a credible plan to safely dispose of the satellite once its mission is over. This usually means saving enough fuel to perform a final maneuver that causes the satellite to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and burn up safely over an ocean.

The Range Control Licence

As mentioned earlier, this is a separate, licensable activity. While a launch operator could provide its own range control, it’s more likely that a specialist, independent company will offer this as a service, or that the spaceport itself will provide it.

The range control licensee must demonstrate they have the technology (like radar and telemetry receivers) and the trained personnel to monitor a launch and, if necessary, make the call to terminate a flight that is going wrong.

In-Orbit Servicing, Sub-Orbital, and Other Activities

The regulations are designed to be “future-proof.” They explicitly cover not just launching satellites but also other emerging space activities. This includes:

• Sub-orbital flight: This could be a space tourism flight that goes to the edge of space and returns, without completing a full orbit.
• In-Orbit Servicing: This is a new field involving activities like repairing, refueling, or upgrading satellites that are already in orbit.
• Debris Removal: Companies designing missions to actively remove large pieces of “space junk” would also need a licence.

By including these activities from the start, the framework ensures that as the space industry innovates, there is a clear legal path for them to follow.

The Application Gauntlet: How to Get a Licence

Getting a space industry licence is a long, rigorous, and expensive process. It’s designed to be tough. The CAA has made it clear that a licence is “a privilege, not a right.” An applicant must earn it by proving they meet the high standards for safety and responsibility. The process generally follows several distinct stages.

Stage 1: The Pre-Application Phase

No one should just show up at the CAA’s office with a 5,000-page safety case. The process starts with early and open engagement. The regulator encourages a “no-surprises” approach.

In this phase, the applicant (a potential spaceport or launch company) will meet with the CAA’s Space Regulation team. They will discuss their high-level plans:

• What kind of rocket do they have?
• Where do they want to launch from?
• What is their target timeline?

The CAA will, in turn, explain the licensing process in detail. They will identify the key evidence the applicant needs to start gathering, highlight potential “long-pole” items (like the environmental assessment), and provide guidance on how to structure their application. This early dialogue can save the applicant millions of pounds and years of wasted effort by ensuring they are on the right track from day one.

Stage 2: The Formal Application

This is when the real work begins. The applicant formally submits their application, which consists of many complex documents. The exact list depends on the licence, but for a launch operator, it would include:

• The detailed Safety Case (as described earlier).
• An Environmental Assessment.
• A Security Programme.
• An Insurance and Liability plan.
• Details of the Organisational Structure and key personnel.

The application is accompanied by a significant fee. These fees pay for the CAA’s time – the dozens of specialist engineers, environmental scientists, and security experts who will spend months analyzing the application.

Stage 3: Assessment and Scrutiny

This is the core of the process. The CAA’s team of specialists will pore over every single page of the application. They are not just checking for typos; they are re-running calculations, challenging assumptions, and testing the logic of the safety arguments.

This stage is an iterative, back-and-forth dialogue. The regulator will issue “Requests for Information” (RFIs) to the applicant. These are formal questions. For example:

• “Your safety case states that the ‘X’ valve has a 1-in-1,000,000 chance of failure. Please provide the test data that supports this number.”
• “Your environmental model for noise impact seems to use data from a different rocket engine. Please re-run the model using data specific to your engine.”
• “Your security plan does not detail procedures for vetting third-party contractors. Please provide this.”

The applicant must then go back, do more analysis, and provide detailed answers. This process can take many months, or even years, depending on the complexity of the operation and the quality of the initial application.

Stage 4: Public Consultation

For activities that have a local impact, particularly the licensing of a new spaceport, public consultation is a required step. The operator’s environmental plans are made public (with any commercially sensitive or security-related information redacted).

This gives local communities, environmental groups, and other stakeholders a chance to review the plans and voice their concerns. People might raise issues about:

• Noise pollution from launches.
• Impact on local wildlife, such as nesting birds or marine mammals.
• Disruption from road closures or exclusion zones.
• Visual impact of new construction.

The operator and the regulator must take these concerns seriously and provide formal responses. In some cases, the operator may need to modify their plans to mitigate the concerns, such as agreeing to not launch during a sensitive wildlife breeding season.

Stage 5: The Decision

Once all RFIs have been answered and all consultations are complete, the CAA makes its final decision. There are three possible outcomes:

1. Licence Granted: The regulator is satisfied that the applicant has met all the requirements of the Act and Regulations.
2. Licence Granted with Conditions: This is a very common outcome. The CAA grants the licence, but attaches specific conditions. For example: “The licence is granted, on the condition that you complete three final successful engine tests before your first flight,” or “You are only permitted to launch during daylight hours.”
3. Licence Refused: The regulator is not satisfied. They will provide the applicant with a detailed written explanation of why the application was refused, referencing the specific parts of the regulations that were not met.

This entire process, from first contact to a final decision, can take anywhere from 12 to 36 months. It is designed to be thorough, ensuring that by the time an operator gets to the launch pad, they have proven they are a safe, secure, and responsible organization.

Protecting the Planet: Environment and Orbital Debris

A major part of the new regulations is focused on environmental protection. This isn’t just a “nice to have” feature; it’s a core requirement woven into the entire licensing process. This concern is split into two distinct areas: the impact on Earth’s environment, and the impact on the space environment.

Assessing Impact on the Ground (and Air)

Any applicant for a spaceport or launch operator licence must conduct a detailed Environmental Assessment. This is a scientific study of the potential impact their activities will have on the surrounding area.

The assessment must look at:

• Noise: Rocket launches are one of the loudest man-made events. The operator must model how this noise will travel and what its impact will be on local communities and sensitive wildlife (like nesting sea birds or seals).
• Emissions: Rockets burn massive amounts of fuel. The operator must analyze what chemicals their rocket motors release. Different propellants have different byproducts. A kerosene-based rocket (like SpaceX’s Falcon 9) produces different atmospheric emissions than one using bio-fuels (like Orbex’s planned rocket) or a solid-fuel motor. This analysis looks at local air quality and any potential effect on the upper atmosphere, including the ozone layer.
• Land and Water: This covers the risk of propellant spills, the impact of construction on the local habitat, and the effect of any hardware (like spent rocket stages) that might be dropped into the sea.

Based on this assessment, the operator must create a mitigation plan. This could involve building sound-dampening structures (berms), contributing to a local habitat restoration fund, or using cleaner-burning propellants.

The Problem of Space Debris

The biggest long-term environmental issue is space debris. The orbit around Earth, especially Low Earth orbit(LEO), is becoming dangerously crowded. Decades of launches have left a junkyard of “space junk” circling the planet. This includes:

• Dead satellites that have run out of fuel.
• Old rocket upper stages left to tumble.
• Shrapnel from accidental explosions or collisions.
• Even tiny objects like flecks of paint or lost screws.

This may not sound like a big deal, but in orbit, these objects are moving at over 17,000 miles per hour. At that speed, a 1-centimeter paint chip has the kinetic energy of a bowling ball dropped from a skyscraper. A collision with even a small piece of debris can be catastrophic, destroying a multi-million-pound operational satellite.

This creates a terrifying possibility known as the Kessler syndrome: a scenario where the density of debris becomes so high that collisions start a chain reaction. One collision creates thousands of new pieces of debris, which in turn cause more collisions, until the entire orbital environment is unusable for generations.

The UK’s Stance on Debris

The UK regulations take this threat very seriously. They are designed to make the UK a world-leader in “space sustainability.” They explicitly state that a licence applicant must demonstrate how they will minimize the creation of new debris and mitigate the risks of their existing objects.

For any company applying for an orbital operator licence, this means they must have:

1. A Plan for End-of-Life Disposal: The applicant must prove they have a reliable way to dispose of their satellite when its mission ends. This is no longer optional. The internationally accepted guideline is the “25-year rule” (a satellite must be de-orbited within 25 years). The UK regulations are stricter, pushing operators to de-orbit much faster, often within 5 years. This usually means reserving enough propellant for a final “de-orbit burn” that sends the satellite into the atmosphere to burn up.
2. Maneuverability: The satellite must have its own propulsion system (thrusters) so it can actively dodge potential collisions.
3. Trackability: The satellite must be easily trackable from the ground, so organizations like the U.S. Space Command can maintain an accurate catalogue of its position.
4. No Deliberate Debris: The regulations flat-out ban any activity that deliberately creates new debris, such as the anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon tests conducted by some nations.

By enforcing these rules, the UK ensures that its new space industry doesn’t add to the problem, and instead helps to establish a new, responsible standard for all space-faring nations.

National Security and Information Protection

Space is a “dual-use” domain. This means that many space technologies can be used for both peaceful civilian purposes (like TV broadcasting or climate monitoring) and for military or intelligence purposes (like reconnaissance or secure communications).

Because of this, space technology is extremely sensitive. The UK‘s regulations have a strong focus on national security, ensuring that this sensitive technology, data, and infrastructure doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

Protecting Sensitive Technology

Rocket technology is, at its core, very similar to missile technology. For this reason, it is controlled by international agreements like the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). The regulations ensure that any company operating in the UK complies with these export-control laws. A company can’t just sell its rocket designs or guidance software to anyone.

This part of the regulation is about stopping proliferation – preventing hostile states or terrorist groups from acquiring a high-speed delivery system.

The Security Programme

Just like the safety case, a licence applicant must submit a detailed Security Programme to the regulator. This document is developed in consultation with the Department for Transport and the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI).

This programme is the operator’s plan for protecting their assets from a range of threats, including terrorism, espionage, sabotage, or theft. The Security Programme must cover:

• Physical Security: This is the “fences, gates, and guards” aspect. It includes access control to the spaceport, secure perimeters, surveillance systems, and safe storage of sensitive items like rocket motors and propellants.
• Personnel Security: Not everyone can be allowed to walk into a launch control center. The regulations require operators to have a system for conducting background checks (vetting) on staff who have access to sensitive technology or control systems.
• Cybersecurity: This is one of the biggest and fastest-growing threats. A hacker who could gain access to a launch provider’s network could steal designs, or worse, attempt to take control of a rocket during flight or a satellite in orbit. Operators must demonstrate they have robust cybersecurity measures, including firewalls, encryption, and secure command-and-control links.

Information Assurance

This is a sub-set of security that deals with controlling information. An operator must show they have policies in place to classify their data. Technical blueprints, flight plans, and satellite command codes must be stored on secure, encrypted systems with strict access controls. This ensures that a competitor, or a foreign intelligence service, can’t simply steal a company’s “secret sauce” or gain information that could compromise a mission.

The Financial Side: Insurance and Liability

This final pillar of the regulations is what makes the commercial space industry financially viable. It answers a simple but terrifying question: Who pays if something goes terribly wrong?

The International Context: The Outer Space Treaty

To understand the UK’s insurance rules, you first have to understand the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. This is the foundational treaty of international space law. One of its most important principles is that nations are responsible for their space activities.

Article VII of the treaty states that a “launching state” is infinitely and absolutely liable for any damage caused by its space object to another nation or its citizens.

This means if a UK-licensed rocket fails and debris hits a town in France, or if a UK-licensed satellite collides with and destroys a German communications satellite, the UK government is on the hook for all the damages. The bill could be billions of pounds.

Passing on the Risk: Operator Insurance

The government is not willing to take on this 100% risk for a private, commercial company. The Space Industry Act requires any operator to take out significant third-party liability insurance.

This insurance is designed to cover damage to third parties – that is, people or property on the ground or other satellites in space – that are not involved in the launch. The amount of insurance required is determined by the regulator based on a risk assessment of the specific mission.

The Liability Cap

Here is the key innovation. The cost of insurance to cover infinite liability would be so high that no company could ever afford it. It would kill the industry before it even started.

So, the UK government has created a public-private partnership for risk, using a “liability cap.” The system works like this:

1. The regulator tells the operator they must buy insurance up to a certain, fixed amount. For a launch, this cap has been set at €60 million.
2. The operator goes to the specialist space insurance market and buys a policy for that €60 million. This is a predictable, manageable business cost they can factor into their launch price.
3. In the event of an accident, this €60 million policy is the first thing to be paid out to victims.
4. If the total damages from a catastrophic accident are more than €60 million, the UK government steps in and pays the rest.

This government “indemnity” (a promise to cover the costs) above the cap is the solution. It protects the public and victims, ensuring they will be compensated. At the same time, it gives the operator a predictable, insurable level of risk, which allows them to attract investors and build a sustainable business.

This model, which balances state responsibility with commercial reality, is essential for a competitive launch market.

The Role of the Regulator

The organization at the center of this entire framework is the regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)

The CAA is the UK‘s long-standing aviation regulator. They are the ones who license pilots, certify new aircraft designs, and oversee air traffic control. Giving them the new job of spaceflight regulation was a deliberate choice.

Horizontal launch, which uses an aircraft, is a natural extension of aviation. More importantly, the CAA are global experts in safety-case-based regulation. Assessing a rocket’s safety case is very similar, in principle, to assessing the safety case for a new model of passenger jet. They have the engineering expertise and the regulatory culture to manage high-risk industries.

To handle this new responsibility, the CAA has formed a dedicated Space Regulation team, hiring new experts with experience in rocket propulsion, orbital mechanics, and space systems.

An Engaged Regulator

The CAA’s job doesn’t end when a licence is issued. The regulations give them powers of ongoing oversight to ensure operators continue to act safely.

• Inspections: CAA inspectors can visit an operator’s facilities at any time to conduct audits. They will be on-site to oversee launch campaigns and will have a seat in the control room.
• Enforcement: If an operator violates the terms of their licence or is found to be operating unsafely, the CAA has a range of enforcement tools. They can issue warnings, levy significant fines, or, in the most serious cases, suspend or revoke a company’s licence to operate.

This ability to adapt is a key strength. The Act and Regulations set the broad safety and environmental goals, but they also give the CAA the power to issue their own detailed “Licensing Rules.” These are the highly technical specifications – the “how-to” guides for meeting the regulations. The CAA can update these technical rules as technology changes, ensuring the UK’s framework remains modern and effective without needing a new Act of Parliament every few years.

Summary

The United Kingdom‘s spaceflight rules are a complex and detailed framework, but they are built on a set of clear, logical principles. They are designed to manage the high risks of spaceflight by putting safety, security, and the environment at the forefront.

The entire system is balanced. It seeks to enable a new, vibrant commercial space industry by providing a clear and predictable path to getting licensed. It does this while protecting the public through a rigorous “safety case” approach, where the operator must prove they are safe. It protects the planet by enforcing some of the world’s strongest rules on mitigating space debris. And it makes the industry financially possible by creating an innovative insurance model that balances a company’s risk with the government’s international obligations.

Through this modern framework, the UK has laid the groundwork to become a launch nation once again, positioning itself not just as a place to launch from, but as a global leader in responsible and sustainable spaceflight.