“A nation with a strong base in science and technology is a nation with a strong backbone” — these phrases of A.P.J. Abdul Kalam ring more true than earlier than as India celebrated its second National Space Day on August 23. Following Chandrayaan-3’s soft-landing close to the lunar south pole to the upcoming Gaganyaan and Chandrayaan missions, the Bharat Antariksh Station, and past, the Indian space programme is about to make historical past many instances over.
Yet a vital part stays grounded: the authorized structure. In the race to discover, innovate, and commercialise outer space, the law is the launchpad for sustainable, equitable, and protected space actions. Without it, space ambitions threat being propelled with out a navigational map.
Global authorized spine
The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 establishes that space is the province of all humankind, prohibits national appropriation, and locations accountability on states for national actions in space, whether or not carried out by authorities or personal entities. Its companion agreements create binding frameworks of rights, tasks, and legal responsibility guidelines.
However, these treaties aren’t self-executing. According to Aarti Holla-Maini, director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), “The core United Nations treaties on outer space provide the foundational principles for all space activities: from the peaceful use of outer space to the responsibility and liability of states. National legislation is the means by which nations can give effect to these principles domestically, ensuring that their growing space sectors develop in a safe, sustainable, and internationally responsible way.”
India has ratified the important thing UN space treaties however it’s nonetheless within the strategy of enacting complete national space laws that totally operationalises these worldwide commitments.
From paper to observe
Space coverage could sign intent however law is what creates an enforceable construction. Policies can information and encourage however solely statutory law can mandate compliance and supply authorized certainty.
“National space legislation offers predictability, legal clarity, and a stable regulatory environment for both government and private actors,” Rossana Deim-Hoffmann, UNOOSA Global Space Law Project Lead, stated. “It operationalises international commitments, enables effective oversight, and embeds sustainability into everyday practice. For industry, this clarity fosters investment and innovation; for regulators, it provides the tools to manage activities responsibly in line with the applicable global framework.”
Many international locations now have national space laws. Japan, Luxembourg, and the US have enacted frameworks to facilitate licensing, legal responsibility protection, and industrial rights over space actions and sources.
India’s regulatory evolution
India’s strategy to space laws displays a methodical, incremental technique. As space law professional Ranjana Kaul notes, the legislative course of is “under way”.
“It should be understood that national space legislation includes two cardinal interdependent aspects: (i) technical regulations governing space operations in orbit by commercial entities — this is the first aspect of ‘authorisation’ process under Article VI [of the Outer Space Treaty]. The Department of Space is proceeding meticulously in this matter.”
This methodical strategy has yielded concrete regulatory developments, together with: the Catalogue of Standards for the Space Industry, crucial for guaranteeing the protection of space operations, and the the Indian Space Policy, offering particulars of actions that non-governmental entities are inspired to undertake — each in 2023; and the IN-SPACe Norms Procedure Guidelines (NPG) for Authorisation to implement the Space Policy in 2024.
According to Dr. Kaul, “IN-SPACe has addressed certain ground segment activities and establishing satellites in orbit. NPG for launch vehicles and other aspects will undoubtedly be issued in due course.”
However, the second element remains to be pending: “the overarching regulatory framework (textual part) — this is the … ‘space activities law’ that will contain provisions of the OST that are meticulously, carefully, appropriately drafted.”
Industry views
From the business’s standpoint, the present regulatory transition creates important operational challenges. Gp. Capt. T.H. Anand Rao (retd.), director of the Indian Space Association, recognized priorities for national space laws starting with the basic want for a statutory authority.
“IN-SPACe, which currently operates without formal legal backing, requires clear statutory authority to strengthen its role as the central regulatory body,” Rao stated. “The national space law should clearly set out licensing rules, qualifications, application processes, timelines, fees, and reasons for acceptance or denial, to avoid unnecessary delays and confusion from multiple ministry approvals.”
The dual-use nature of space applied sciences creates explicit problems, with corporations dealing with delays from a number of ministry clearances even after provisional approvals. Clear FDI guidelines, comparable to permitting 100% FDI in satellite tv for pc element manufacturing underneath computerized routes, would entice crucial capital for startups to scale operations. This operational readability extends to legal responsibility frameworks, the place Rao emphasised that “while India is ultimately responsible internationally, private companies must hold proper third-party insurance to cover any damages. The law should lay out transparent steps for reporting incidents and handling claims,” whereas creating inexpensive insurance coverage frameworks for startups managing high-value space belongings.
Innovation safety stays equally essential: “legislation should secure intellectual property rights without excessive government control, encourage partnerships among industry, academia, and government, and foster investor trust.”
This balanced strategy would stop migration of expertise and applied sciences to extra IP-friendly jurisdictions. Rao harassed the necessity for binding security requirements, necessary accident investigation procedures, enforceable space particles administration legal guidelines, unified frameworks for space-related knowledge and satellite tv for pc communications, and an unbiased appellate physique to forestall conflicts of curiosity.
Without statutory backing, IN-SPACe’s regulatory selections stay weak to procedural challenges, creating uncertainty for personal gamers navigating India’s rising industrial space ecosystem.
Legal gaps versus geopolitical challenges
The dangers of regulatory gaps should be seen within the correct context.
“The risk is not the absence of binding legal framework — the OST is an extraordinary treaty that even without being ‘binding’ has not had a single incident when one state conducted a hostile/aggressive activity against another state in outer space,” Dr. Kaul stated. “The risk to the Outer Space Treaty is the absence of political consensus consequent to big power contestations among the three military space super powers.”
The perspective means that whereas home authorized readability is vital for industrial growth, the higher threats to space governance emerge from worldwide geopolitical tensions relatively than national legislative delays.
The query is not whether or not India needs complete space laws however when the methodical groundwork already laid will culminate in binding statutory law. With the International Astronautical Congress assembly in Sydney this yr and probably in India within the close to future, the timing is critical.
Shrawani Shagun is a researcher specializing in environmental sustainability and space governance.