Luxembourg Law On The Exploration And Use Of Space Resources Entered Into Force

The Luxembourg law on the exploration and use of space resources of 20 July 2017 entered into force on 2 August 2017 and placed Luxembourg among the most innovative space-oriented nations in the world.

The new law provides a legal framework for the "new space" activities. It aims at the further development of the constantly growing Luxembourg space industry employing already more than 700 highly skilled workers.

As initially proposed, the new law consists of two main parts dealing respectively with the ownership of space resources and the authorisation regime for the exploration and use of such resources.

Article 1 states that space resources are capable of being appropriated. The reasoning of the legislator is made, among others, by analogy with the rules governing the high seas and the possibility which exists to explore the resources of the latter without appropriating the high seas as such.

The new law also sets a number of authorisation conditions, which need to be fulfilled by a potential operator to be allowed to carry out space missions.

The exploration and use of space resources is consequently only possible on the basis of a ministerial authorisation granted to an operator (on a personal and non-assignable basis) with respect to a specific mission (articles 2, 3 and 5). The new law clearly states that the authorised operator has to carry out its activity in accordance with the international obligations of Luxembourg (article 2).

Authorisation may be granted only to legal persons existing under Luxembourg law and having their registered office in Luxembourg in the form of a société à responsabilité limitée (S.à r.l.), a société anonyme (S.A.), a société en commandite par actions (S.C.A.) or a société européenne (S.E.) (article 4). The shareholders of the operator may be Luxembourg or foreign, natural or legal persons.

The application for authorisation must include any useful information for the assessment of such application and the mission program (article 6).

A risk assessment analysis of the mission, including the respective insurance policy covering such risk, needs to be prepared by the operator and be submitted to the competent ministry together with the application. The authorisation shall also be subject to proof of an adequate financial basis to cover the risks relating to the mission which is the subject of the application for authorisation (article 10 (1)).

The central administration, including the administrative and...

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