Space Industry Act 2018

Miscellaneous

61 Register of launches

(1) The Secretary of State must maintain a register of launches that have taken place from spaceports in the United Kingdom.

(2) Subsection (1) applies only to launches resulting, or intended to result, in—

(a) a craft or object going beyond the stratosphere, or

(b) a balloon reaching the stratosphere carrying crew or passengers.

(3) In relation to each launch, the register must include as much of the following information as the Secretary of State considers appropriate to include (and may include any other information that he or she thinks is appropriate to include)—

(a) the date of the launch;

(b) the spaceport from which the launch took place;

(c) the nature of each spacecraft or carrier aircraft launched;

(d) the purpose of the launch.

(4) The Secretary of State must ensure that the public can view the information in the register free of charge.

(5) The obligations of the Secretary of State under this section and under section 7 of the Outer Space Act 1986 (register of space objects) may be discharged by maintaining a single register of launches and space objects.

62 Charging schemes

Schedule 11, which makes provision about schemes for making charges in respect of the performance of functions conferred on the Secretary of State or the regulator by or under this Act, has effect.

63 Provision of advice and assistance by or to an appointed person

(1) An appointed person must provide to the Secretary of State, or to any other person, any advice or assistance that the Secretary of State requires the appointed person to provide in connection with any functions conferred on the Secretary of State by or under this Act.

(2) A requirement imposed under subsection (1) to provide advice or assistance in connection with a function may be expressed so as to operate as a continuing requirement on the appointed person to provide advice or assistance in connection with that function.

(3) Where under subsection (1) the Secretary of State—

(a) requires an appointed person to provide advice or assistance to a person other than the Secretary of State, but

(b) does not undertake to pay the appointed person the cost of doing so,

the appointed person may refuse to do so until the other person pays to the appointed person any reasonable charges in respect of the advice or assistance that the appointed person determines.

(4) An appointed person is entitled to recover from the Secretary of State a sum equal to any expense reasonably incurred by the person in providing the Secretary of State with advice or assistance in response to a requirement imposed under subsection (1).

(5) A reference to the Secretary of State in subsections (1) to (4) includes a reference to an appointed person other than one required to provide the advice or assistance.

(6) The Secretary of State may provide advice or assistance to an appointed person, at the person’s request, in connection with any functions conferred on the person by or under this Act.

(7) The Secretary of State is entitled to recover from an appointed person a sum equal to any expense reasonably incurred by the Secretary of State in providing the person with advice or assistance under subsection (6).

64 Co-operation between Secretary of State and other public authorities

(1) The Secretary of State and a public authority listed in subsection (2) may enter into and maintain arrangements with each other for securing co-operation, and the exchange of information, with regard to the carrying out of any of their functions under or in connection with this Act.

(2) The listed public authorities are—

(a) the regulator (if not the Secretary of State);

(b) the CAA (if not an appointed person);

(c) the Health and Safety Executive;

(d) the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland;

(e) the Office for Nuclear Regulation;

(f) any other public authority with which the Secretary of State considers it would be appropriate to enter into arrangements under this section.

(3) The parties to any arrangements made under this section must—

(a) review the arrangements from time to time;

(b) revise them when they consider it appropriate to do so.

65 Agreements with other countries: compliance with requirements etc

(1) Regulations may provide that, in prescribed circumstances and subject to prescribed conditions, compliance with a prescribed requirement or prohibition imposed for the purpose of giving effect to a relevant agreement is to be taken as compliance with a prescribed requirement or prohibition imposed by subordinate legislation.

(2) In this section—

• “relevant agreement” means an agreement between the United Kingdom and another country relating to spaceflight activities;

• “subordinate legislation” has the same meaning as in the Interpretation Act 1978 (see section 21(1) of that Act).

66 Use of records and documentary evidence

(1) In any legal proceedings, a document purporting to be certified by a prescribed person as being, or as being a true copy of, or of part of, a document issued or a record kept by the regulator for the purposes of this Act, or regulations made under this Act, is evidence, and in Scotland sufficient evidence, of the matters appearing from the document.

(2) In any legal proceedings, any record to which subsection (3) applies is evidence, and in Scotland sufficient evidence, of the matters appearing from the record.

(3) This subsection applies to a record if it was made by and is produced from the custody of a prescribed person, or a person acting under the control of a prescribed person, and purports to show—

(a) the position of a spacecraft at any material time,

(b) the terms or content of any message or signal transmitted to any spacecraft (whether alone or in common with other spacecraft) by the prescribed person or the person acting under that person’s control, or

(c) the terms or content of any message received from a spacecraft by the prescribed person or the person acting under that person’s control.

(4) The reference in subsection (3) to a record made by or under the control of a prescribed person includes a reference to a document or article—

(a) purporting to be a copy of the record so made, and

(b) certified to be a true copy by, or on behalf of, the prescribed person or the person acting under that person’s control.

This section has effect in relation to such a copy as if in subsection (3) the words “and is produced from the custody of” were omitted.

(5) A person who certifies a document or article as mentioned in subsection (4)(b) knowing that it is not a true copy commits an offence.