Space Industry Act 2018

35 Power or duty of Secretary of State to indemnify

(1) Subsections (2) and (3) apply where—

(a) injury or damage is sustained by a person as a result of spaceflight activities carried out by the holder of an operator licence (“the licensee”),

(b) that person is not an individual of a prescribed description taking part in, or otherwise engaged in connection with, those activities, and

(c) the licensee is liable to that or some other person (“the claimant”) in respect of the injury or damage.

(2) If the liability amount exceeds the insurance amount, the Secretary of State may indemnify the licensee in respect of the difference.

In this subsection—

(a) “the liability amount” means the amount of the licensee’s liability (as limited by or under regulations made under section 34(5), if it is so limited);

(b) “the insurance amount” means the amount for which the licensee is insured in respect of that liability (or, if a condition imposed by virtue of paragraph 35(a) of Schedule 1 requires the licensee to be insured for a greater amount in respect of it, that greater amount).

(3) The Secretary of State must indemnify the claimant in respect of any difference between—

(a) the amount of the licensee’s liability as limited by or under regulations made under section 34(5), and

(b) what the amount of that liability would be but for the regulations.

(4) The Secretary of State is entitled—

(a) to participate in legal proceedings concerning a liability in relation to which a power under subsection (2) or duty under subsection (3) might arise, or

(b) to direct the conduct of the case of a person alleged to be liable in such proceedings.

(5) Regulations may—

(a) prescribe limits on the amounts that the Secretary of State may or must pay under subsection (2) or (3);

(b) prescribe cases or circumstances in which the Secretary of State’s power under subsection (2) or duty under subsection (3) does not arise;

(c) make provision supplementing subsection (4).