Outer Space Act 1986

United Kingdom Parliament
Long title	An Act to confer licensing and other powers on the Secretary of State to secure compliance with the international obligations of the United Kingdom with respect to the launching and operation of space objects and the carrying on of other activities in outer space by persons connected with this country.
Citation	1986 c. 38
Territorial extent	England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Dates
Royal assent	18 July 1986
Commencement	31 July 1989
Other legislation
Amended by	Deregulation Act 2015, Space Industry Act 2018
Relates to	Space Industry Act 2018
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

The Outer Space Act 1986

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	A bill to secure compliance with the international obligations of the United Kingdom with respect to the launching and operation of space objects and the carrying on of other activities in outer space by persons connected with this country.
Dates
Royal assent	18 July 1986
Commencement	5 July 1989

The Outer Space Act 1986 is an Act of Parliament that implements the United Kingdom's international obligations with respect to space launches and operations by people connected to the country. The act did not come into force until 1 August 1989.^[1]

Outline of provisions

The Act specifies that anyone who launches a space object or carries out any activity in outer space must obtain a licence before doing so. This licence must be granted by the Secretary of state and may contain terms enforceable by prosecution.^[1][2]

Under section 7 a UK Registry of Outer Space Objects is maintained by the UK Space Agency, and is periodically published.^[3]

Amendment of the Outer Space Act 1986

In 2015, Section 12 of the Deregulation Act amended the Outer Space Act to ensure licences specify the licensee's liability to indemnify the government regarding space activities authorised by the licence.^[4]

The Space Industry Act 2018 extended and improved the regulatory framework for commercial spaceflight activities to be carried out from spaceports in the United Kingdom and launches and other activities overseas by UK entities.^[5]