Freeths Solicitors look at the stratospheric rise of the UK Space Sector

Sponsored by

Share

The Business Magazine article image for: Freeths Solicitors look at the stratospheric rise of the UK Space Sector

Living in the UK, you could be forgiven for thinking that space missions, rocket launches and the exploration of space are things that only happen far away.

When you think about space, it is easy to bring to mind iconic events of the 20^th Century where Russia and the US took centre stage with Sputnik and the Apollo missions. More recently, the US, of course, is re-opening the space programme both on a government backed basis and with private companies making great strides, such as Elon Musk’s company SpaceX launching its Falcon rockets. Meanwhile, China is also making its own great strides forward with its eyes set firmly on the moon (and beyond).

These powerful examples of science and innovation in action are usually associated with those three major super-powers. In reality, however, nothing could be further from the truth. The UK has a long history of pursuing its own space missions starting as far back as 1962 when the Ariel-1 satellite became the world’s first solar mission, followed by the launch of the Black Arrow rocket in 1971. The UK also invented and pioneered many technologies which have been key to the development of the global space industry including small satellites which were first developed by a team from Surrey University.

Despite this illustrious history, there has arguably never been a more exciting time for the UK’s space sector than now. Due to a combination in recent years of support from central government and significant investment and innovation from the private sector, the UK’s space sector has gone from strength to strength.

| There has arguably never been a more exciting time for the UK’s space sector than now

Trebling in size between 2010 and 2020, the UK’s space industry now employs around 42,000 people and generates almost £15 billion of income for the UK every year. This trend shows little sign of slowing down with three UK space ports expected to be fully operational by 2023 and the government having ambitions to be the first European country to be able to offer an end-to-end solution for access to orbit, from initial satellite design through to launch.

A significant part of this growth has been generated by companies in the South and West of England. There is a particular hub at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus. Notable examples of Harwell based companies are Astroscale with its vital mission of clearing debris from orbit to allow the safe proliferation of satellite technology and Reaction Engines with its ground-breaking SABRE engine that can operate both in Earth’s atmosphere and in space. That being said, one of the exciting things about the UK’s space industry in 2022 is how widely distributed it is.

Bristol also boasts a high concentration of space focussed businesses, including Thales Alenia Space, one of the largest space focused companies in the UK, and Geollect which is a leader in geospatial intelligence technologies. Companies in the West of England are ideally located in close proximity to the UK Space Agency’s headquarters in Swindon and with easy access to Spaceport Cornwall which will carry out its first launch within weeks, marking the first ever launch of satellites into orbit from UK soil.

Until 2018, the majority of regulation of space activities in the UK came from the Outer Space Act 1986 which was very light touch and did not contemplate the wide range of space activities that are now being pursued. To facilitate the rapid growth that we are seeing, and to achieve the government’s aim of making the UK a leader in the global space industry, the UK introduced the Space Industry Act 2018 which now sits at the heart of a fairly sophisticated regulatory and licensing regime. This covers space activities from running a spaceport to launching rockets and controlling satellites in orbit but also contemplates future capabilities such as manned space flight from the UK.

It is no surprise that launching a successful space mission can be hugely expensive and involve significant financial and logistical risk, with a very real chance that the mission never leaves the launch pad. The UK’s regulatory regime is overseen by the Civilian Aviation Authority and aims to ameliorate some of this risk by, for example, creating strict requirements around risk management for spaceflight and providing for a limit of liability for accidents so that operators do not have unlimited exposure should things go wrong. Some of these requirements were already present in the Outer Space Act 1986 but there are new obligations such as a need to fill certain prescribed roles, security requirements and some detailed licence conditions that were introduced by the new regime.

In short, participation in the UK’s space boom comes with a significant number of rules and regulations. Of course, underpinning all space activities there are also numerous agreements and contracts for the use of land, intellectual property and logistics and interlinking regulatory issues, such as data protection which adds to the complexity. However, much of the regulatory regime is still relatively new, with many of the regulations only coming into force last year and the hope is that, as more space industry act licences are issued, compliance will become more routine for operators and their advisors just as necessary agreements will become more familiar and standardised.

Satellite data impacts our lives every single day, whether through communication, travel, weather forecasting or any number of applications as well as being vital in the fight against climate change. Being at the forefront of this technical revolution could bring huge investment into the UK as well as giving us security over our communications technology.

On the flip side, while talking about space naturally lends itself to a huge sense of optimism and excitement, it is also vulnerable to criticism for being frivolous and spending large sums of money on space activities during a cost-of-living crisis may well be considered a low priority. However, the space sector is a hugely important economic sector for the UK and will only continue to grow in importance, generating employment and income.

For companies working in the space sector, it is important to uphold the regulatory standards and to fully understand their obligations, which is an area that Freeths LLP actively supports to ensure companies can achieve compliance and public trust.

It certainly is a very exciting time to be working in, and following, the space industry. So, with the huge leaps forward being taken in the space sector across the UK, next time you look up at the stars, remember that the final frontier could be much closer than you may think.

If you are as excited about space as we are, or if you would like to talk to us about UK space regulation and licensing, then please get in touch with Mona Schroedel or Meryon Roderick.

Mona Schroedel - Managing Associate