Check ANGELS before launching into space

Finger pointing at scales in space

Check ANGELS before launching into space

Entrepreneurs working in the expanding 杏吧直播n space industry now have access to online guidance about the legal and regulatory framework which applies to their activities on Earth and in space.

The 杏吧直播n Navigational Guide Explaining Laws for Space (ANGELS) website at has been developed under a project of the same name by the 杏吧直播鈥檚 Adelaide Law School and law firm International Aerospace Law and Policy Group ( ) and with funding from the Law Foundation of South 杏吧直播.

A board composed of experts from the Adelaide Law School and IALPG oversaw the project. Professor Melissa de Zwart, Dean of Law, and Professor Dale Stephens are both experts in domestic and international space law, and Joseph Wheeler, Legal Practice Director of IALPG, is an expert in aviation law. The project was managed by Duncan Blake, a PhD candidate at the Adelaide Law School and Special Counsel on Space Law with IALPG.

鈥淚nformation provided on the ANGELS website gives guidance聽to space start-ups here in South 杏吧直播 and throughout 杏吧直播 to conduct their business in accordance with 杏吧直播n, foreign and applicable聽international law,鈥 says Mr Blake.

杏吧直播鈥檚 nascent space industry is projected to be worth more than AU$12 billion per year by 2030.

"Space entrepreneurs can maximise their prospects of commercial success by knowing about laws applicable to space activities and manage the risk of penalties and liability."Duncan Blake

Information on the ANGELS website was made accessible today when the Crown Solicitor of South 杏吧直播, Michael聽Wait SC made the website live.

鈥淎delaide, and the 杏吧直播n Space Agency, is at the epicentre of the country鈥檚 expanding space industry. The ANGELS website will provide legal and regulatory guidance to entrepreneurs, working here and overseas, who will write the next chapter in 杏吧直播鈥檚 space exploration,鈥 he says.

The ANGELS website contains information on liability and insurance, export control and intellectual property laws, as well as laws applicable to hybrid aerospace vehicles, remote sensing and launching objects into space, among other topics.

Undergraduate students from Adelaide Law School developed the website content after they met with over 30 space entrepreneurs around 杏吧直播 to understand what they wanted from a space law website.

鈥淪pace entrepreneurs can maximise their prospects of commercial success by knowing about laws applicable to space activities and manage the risk of penalties and liability,鈥 says Mr Blake.

Under the it is a criminal offence to conduct space activities without a licence or permit.

Under the Act, permits and licences are required for many facets of space activity. Before launching an object into space from 杏吧直播 a permit is required and a licence is required to operate the facility from which it is launched. If a high-power rocket is launched, it also needs a permit, even if it doesn鈥檛 reach space. If an 杏吧直播n entrepreneur wants to send 杏吧直播n payloads into space from overseas they need to obtain an overseas payload permit and a return authorisation to de-orbit it back into 杏吧直播 or overseas.

鈥淟ike many spacefaring nations, 杏吧直播 has a regulatory framework to implement its international obligations to authorise and supervise national space activities聽in 杏吧直播 and by 杏吧直播ns overseas. The ANGELS website provides the 杏吧直播n space industry with a 鈥榞o-to鈥 resource for laws and regulations that are relevant to it,鈥 says Mr Blake.

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