The Government of the Isle of Man is considering new space law for the dual purpose of extending its legal jurisdiction to the activities of its citizens, companies, and corporations working in the space sector, as required by the existing UN Space Treaties, and of creating a regulatory and legal environment specifically tailored to meet the needs of the space industry.  

 

In order to ensure that this legislation will be relevant and useful to the space industry, the Office of the Honorary Representative of the Isle of Man to the Space Community has started the Manx Space Law Initiative specifically to seek comment and feedback from select space companies, academia, and noted societies, foundations, and individuals on the general ideas, legal concepts, and directions to be taken to create a legal framework for the utilization and industrialization of space. 

 

In short, the purpose is to solicit input from you into the basic framework of our draft legislation.  We believe this represents a unique opportunity for members of the space industry to influence the legal environment in which they work.

 

Of note is that this new legislation will be enabling in nature as opposed to regulatory. As a British Crown Dependency, all regulatory matters in regards to Isle of Man companies working in space are covered under the UK 1986 Outer Space Act, applied to the Isle of Man by an Order in Council 1990, details of which can be found directly via the British National Space Centre (BNSC) or from the page linked below.