UK space liability regime (Outer Space Act and Space Industry Act)
The UK framework that requires space operators to hold third-party liability insurance and caps, usually at 60 million euros, their duty to indemnify the state.
A state that authorizes a space activity is internationally liable for the damage it causes, under the 1972 Liability Convention. It therefore turns to the operator, but an unlimited duty to indemnify would make the activity uninsurable and drive operators to more lenient states. The United Kingdom chose a cap: the operator indemnifies the state up to an amount set in the license, and must hold third-party liability insurance of the same order. For launches from its own soil, the amount is calculated by a mission-specific model. This trade-off between protecting the taxpayer and remaining attractive lies at the heart of competition between space-faring states.
The Deregulation Act 2015 capped at 60 million euros the duty to indemnify the government for standard missions licensed under the Outer Space Act 1986, with third-party liability insurance of 60 million euros any one occurrence; the government kept this default amount under the Space Industry Act 2018, and calculates the amount for launches from the United Kingdom through its modeled insurance requirement.
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