Comprehensive domestic laws are needed to operationalize international commitments and provide a stable, predictable, and legally certain environment for its growing space sector, including private entities.
India’s ambitions and recent achievement in Space
- Rapid Progress: India has made colossal advancements of Indian space research and technology, establishing itself on par with developed nations like the US and Russia in space research.
- Notable achievements include cost-efficient Mangalyaan Mission, Chandrayaan-3's soft-landing near the lunar South Pole, etc.
- Future Missions: Gaganyaan mission, the Bharat Antariksh Station, etc.
India's Existing Regulatory Landscape: Methodical, incremental approach
- Catalogue of Standards for the Space Industry (2023) ensures safety of operations.
- Indian Space Policy (2023) details activities encouraged for non-governmental entities.
- IN-SPACe Norms Procedure Guidelines (NPG) for Authorisation (2024) implements the Space Policy, addressing certain ground segment activities and establishing satellites in orbit.
Imperative for National Space Legislation
- Operationalizing international commitments: While India has ratified key international space treaties like Outer Space Treaty (1967), these agreements are not self-executing and require domestic laws for practical implementation
- Legal certainty and predictability: Policies can guide and inspire but only statutory law can mandate compliance and provide legal certainty.
- Operational challenges: Regulatory transition creates significant operational challenges for the industry, leading to unnecessary delays and confusion from multiple ministry approvals.
- Industry perspective: Dual-use nature of space technologies creates particular complications leading to delays, need to secure IPRs without excessive government control, need of an independent appellate body to prevent conflicts of interest, etc.
Conclusion
Enactment of a comprehensive national space law with statutory backing for regulatory bodies like IN-SPACe can provide the much-needed legal clarity, predictability, and operational certainty for government and private actors, foster innovation, attract investment, and ensure India's responsible engagement in outer space.
