Luxembourg Set To Become Europe's Commercial Space Exploration Hub With New Space Law

Filling the void: Luxembourg leads the way in Europe by regulating the ownership of space resources

The law of 20 July 2017 on the exploration and use of space resources (the Space Law), as adopted by the Luxembourg Parliament on 13 July 2017 and effective from 1 August 2017, creates a licensing and supervisory regime in Luxembourg addressing the ownership of resources acquired in space. Similar to the US Commercial Space Launch and Competitiveness Act, the Space Law provides that commercial companies operating within its regulatory framework may legally appropriate resources acquired in space from celestial bodies known as Near Earth Objects (NEOs). Notably, the Space Law does not apply to satellite communications, orbital positions or the use of frequency bands.

Luxembourg is the first European country to adopt legislation regulating the ownership of resources acquired in space by commercial companies, providing legal certainty for commercial projects in the space sector. The Outer Space Treaty (OST) dating back to 1967, signed by 107 countries including Luxembourg, established principles for the peaceful and free exploration of space by nation states. However, OST does not address the ownership by private organisations of the resources harvested from NEOs by, for example, asteroid mining, including metals, minerals, and gases.

Legal certainty and clear guidelines: the Space Law

The Space Law sets out a number of requirements for a commercial company seeking to rely on Luxembourg's regulatory framework in order to appropriate space resources (the Operator). The main ones are listed below:

the Operator must either be a public company limited by shares (société anonyme (SA)), a corporate partnership limited by shares (société en commandite par actions (SCA)), a private limited liability company (société à responsabilité limitée (SARL)) or a European Company (société européenne (SE)); the Operator must seek a written authorisation from the appropriate minister(s) in Luxembourg; the Operator's place of central administration and registered office must be located in Luxembourg, and satisfactory evidence shall be given with respect to, notably (i) the administrative and accounting structures of the Operator to be authorised, (ii) the required financial, technical and statutory procedures and arrangements through which the exploration and utilization mission (including the commercialisation of space resources) are planned and implemented and...