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On July 29, the Space Industry Regulations 2021 came into force to “support safe, sustainable spaceflight activities”. Announcing the update, the Government said it would “drive research, innovation and entrepreneurship” in the cosmos. It was jointly developed by the Department for Transport (DfT), Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
But Mr Morris says it is fundamentally flawed.
He told Express.co.uk: “The 2018 Space Act, which I worked on, had a clear framework set up for a new industry regulator.
“That has been handed over to the CAA.
“Now the CAA is in control of it and that’s fine, but the anomaly here is that they have lifted the cap from €60million (£51million) to unlimited.
“If you want to send anything up from the UK and you have an unlimited liability, the operators – like OneWeb – would have to go to an insurance broker – but they wouldn’t know how much to insure it for.”
The Space Industry Act was introduced by Chris Grayling when he was Transport Secretary to extend and improve the regulatory framework for commercial spaceflight activities to be carried out from spaceports in the UK and launches and other activities overseas by UK entities.
But the wording of the updated legislation apparently leaves open the possibility that space companies could be exposed to unlimited risk.
Instead of putting a maximum value on it, the act states that “an operator licence must specify a limit on the amount of the operator’s liability”.
Many nations have set a liability cap, some as low as $20million (£14.4million) per licence, with governments then committed to take on any further risk.
Express.co.uk understands that the Morecambe and Lunesdale MP raised the issue with the Prime Minister at the 1922 Committee last month.
The Government has since insisted space companies will not face unlimited liability.
It has said the CAA will determine companies’ liabilities on a case-by-case basis under the UK regulations.
But Mr Morris says this leaves many space companies with their hands tied.
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He added: “You have to have insurance in place before you can get a license to launch.
“I think the issue is that the unlimited liability is linked up with the CAA’s space strategy.
“I think there is an anomaly over how the CAA works – they might have an operator that flies into the UK with unlimited liability.
“Aircraft insurance is totally different to ballistic missiles.
“The CAA are looking into this, but they are taking a long time – what this means, in effect, is Branson cannot send up his Virgin Orbit spacecraft from Cornwall.”
Spaceports are being developed in England, Wales and Scotland, with the first launch due in 2022 – as Britain is set for a huge stake in the industry forecast to be worth £400billion by 2030.
But Mr Morris said many will be driven away if the Government does not put a number on it.
He continued: “This is a major problem. You can’t send anything up without insurance. It needs to be sorted sooner rather than later.
“What will happen is, even OneWeb, will go over to Baikonur and strike an agreement with ESA.
“We can’t do home-grown space launches, rocket launches or satellite deploying without this being solved. Businesses are being driven abroad.
“We could be launching these from Scotland.”
Mr Morris says that Mr Johnson needs an expert who was involved in the original Space Act to get ahold of the CAA and iron out the issue.”
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