![\"India](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-134176116,imgsize-335000,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/parallax-space-act.jpg\" "\\"India's")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nIndia needs a Space Act. It needed it yesterday!<\/span>The country opened its space sector in 2020, created IN-SPACe to authorise and regulate their activities, and subsequently put in place the Indian Space Policy 2023 and a framework for non-governmental entities. The industry is growing under this framework, with a constellation of startups, private investment and an expanding list of authorised space activities.But the overarching legislation that gives this framework statutory backing is still missing. That gap is no longer a technicality. It raises basic questions about the powers of the regulator, the process by which authorisations are granted or withdrawn, the rights of companies facing regulatory action, liability when something goes wrong, insurance and financial guarantees, ownership and transfer of space assets, and how India discharges its international obligations when private entities conduct space activities.The absence of a law could have once been conceived as an inconvenience. With the sector now open and private capital flowing in, it is threatening to grow into a structural problem. India is also increasingly an outlier in another respect. Major spacefaring countries have put legislation at the foundation of their space regimes.The US, for instance, has built its framework through multiple Acts covering civil space, commercial launches and re-entry, remote sensing and other activities. France, Japan, Australia, Russia, South Korea and the UAE, among others, have enacted legislation covering areas such as authorisation, launches, spacecraft, safety and liability.India, by contrast, continues to rely primarily on executive policy, administrative authorisation and regulatory guidelines. The Indian Space Policy 2023 and IN-SPACe’s norms provide a framework for private participation and authorisation, but they are not a substitute for legislation enacted by Parliament.<\/p>\n This is not a case of the govt having overlooked the need for legislation. India knew it needed a Space Act before it opened the sector. In Nov 2017, the Department of Space released the draft Space Activities Bill for public and stakeholder comments.The explanatory note accompanying it was explicit about why legislation was required. Space activities had evolved from conceptual and experimental stages into operational and commercial activities. Industry participation was growing, startups were emerging and international commercial opportunities were expanding. The govt said this evolution created a need for a legal environment for the orderly performance and growth of the sector.The draft also recognised that the law should not simply be a regulatory instrument. Its stated approach was to create a framework that would enable further growth of the space sector and facilitate private participation under government authorisation and supervision.The draft was put out for consultation. The govt later said it received several responses that raised questions about the scope, the regulatory mechanism, licensing and authorisation, liability, penalties and the powers of the govt.The Bill did not make it to Parliament the decision to open the sector though couldn\u2019t be delayed. In June 2020, the govt announced reforms allowing private entities to undertake end-to-end space activities, including the building and operation of satellites, launch vehicles and associated infrastructure. Then, IN-SPACe was created as the interface through which non-government entities could seek authorisation and regulatory support. The Indian Space Policy 2023 subsequently sought to establish a regulatory framework and enable private participation across the space value chain.The policy architecture has therefore moved ahead of the legislation. There is nothing inherently wrong with using policy and executive mechanisms to get a new industry moving. But a policy framework and a statute do different things.A policy can state what the govt intends to do. A regulatory framework can establish procedures. A statutory law can establish legally enforceable powers, duties, rights and remedies. That distinction becomes particularly important when the regulator is making decisions that can affect millions of dollars of private investment.For the private sector, the legislation could answer several questions too. Consider an authorisation to conduct a space activity. Who can grant it? On what statutory basis? What are the grounds for refusing it? What happens if an authorisation is suspended or revoked? What opportunity does the affected entity have to respond? Where can it appeal? What happens if a space object causes damage? Who bears liability? What insurance or financial guarantees should be mandatory? What happens if the company that owns or operates the object becomes insolvent or changes ownership?These are not questions that should have to be answered by inference from policy documents. The 2017 draft itself illustrates the breadth of the issues that a Space Act would have to address. It provided for authorisation and licensing, insurance and financial guarantees, registration of space objects, liability and indemnification, penalties and offences, and procedures for suspension or revocation of licences. It also provided for a reasonable opportunity of hearing before certain adverse regulatory action and envisaged rules being made under the Act and laid before Parliament.That does not mean the 2017 draft should simply be revived. There were concerns raised by stakeholders that need to be discussed, the sector has changed since 2017, and legislation must reflect that. But that is precisely why the govt has had ample time to do the job properly.A revised Space Activities Bill has been under preparation for several years. In Dec 2024, it was said that the draft would be put out for stakeholder consultation after internal approval. In May 2025, it was said that the new draft had been finalised and would soon be circulated to stakeholder ministries before moving towards the minister, Cabinet and Parliament.The Parliamentary Standing Committee\u2019s March 2026 report, in fact, said the Department was at an advanced stage of drafting the Bill and welcomed the move towards a comprehensive legal framework. It also said there was a \u201cclear and pressing need\u201d for such a framework given the sector’s expansion, strategic and security implications and increasing private participation.But the revised legislation has still not entered the public domain in the manner the 2017 draft did. That is difficult to reconcile with the pace at which the sector itself is moving.The argument for legislation is therefore no longer theoretical. There are companies building satellites, launch vehicles and other space systems; investors putting money into them; and a regulator making decisions that shape what they can and cannot do. The more activity that takes place under an executive framework, the more consequential the absence of legislation becomes.There is also a larger legal issue. Space is not governed only by domestic policy. India is a party to international space treaties that place obligations and responsibilities on the state. The 2017 Department of Space explanatory note recognised that domestic legislation would be needed to discharge these obligations and that international responsibility and liability become particularly relevant when non-government entities conduct space activities. It also noted the need for authorisation and continuing supervision of such activities.A Space Act would therefore not merely be an industry-enabling measure. It would provide the domestic legal architecture through which India exercises its responsibilities as a spacefaring nation. There is a legitimate concern that legislation can become obsolete in a sector where technology changes quickly. But that is not an argument against a Space Act. It is an argument for drafting one properly.The 2017 draft itself envisaged a basic statutory framework supplemented by rules and regulations that could be updated as technology and circumstances changed. A good Space Act should therefore set out the principles, powers, rights, obligations and safeguards in law while leaving technical and procedural details to regulations that can evolve.The argument is not to rush through a law simply to claim that India has one. The 2017 consultation showed why consultation matters. Stakeholders raised questions about the regulatory architecture, liability, licensing, penalties and govt powers. Those concerns should inform the new Bill. Industry, legal experts, scientists, insurers, investors and other affected stakeholders should have an opportunity to examine the proposed framework before Parliament considers it.And one should not confuse deliberation with delay. The govt has had nearly nine years to learn from the first draft, six years to observe the consequences of opening the sector, and several years to develop and operate the current policy and authorisation framework. The Parliamentary Standing Committee has also explicitly called the need for legislation \u201cclear and pressing\u201d.The next step should be equally clear. Put the Bill in the public domain. Consult. Revise where necessary. Then bring it to Parliament. India has already taken the leap of opening its space sector. It should not leave the legal foundation waiting on the launch pad.It is time to enact the Space Act.—Postscript<\/span>Space is, by definition, a vacuum. But perhaps the <\/span>Parallax<\/span> India now needs in its space story is to recognise the difference between a vacuum that nature creates and one that law leaves behind.<\/span><\/div>\n India’s growing space industry needs an umbrella Space Act for legal support. India needs a Space Act. It needed it yesterday!The country opened its space sector in 2020, created IN-SPACe to authorise and regulate their activities, and subsequently put in place the Indian Space Policy 2023 and a framework for non-governmental entities. The industry is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-31"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/parallax-space-act.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/parallax-space-act.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/parallax-space-act.jpg","large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/parallax-space-act.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/parallax-space-act.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/parallax-space-act.jpg","blogsy-small":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/parallax-space-act.jpg","blogsy-small-tall":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/parallax-space-act.jpg","blogsy-small-square":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/parallax-space-act.jpg","blogsy-small-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/parallax-space-act.jpg","blogsy-medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/parallax-space-act.jpg","blogsy-medium-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/parallax-space-act.jpg","blogsy-large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/parallax-space-act.jpg","blogsy-wide":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/parallax-space-act.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"India’s growing space industry needs an umbrella Space Act for legal support. India needs a Space Act. It needed it yesterday!The country opened its space sector in 2020, created IN-SPACe to authorise and regulate their activities, and subsequently put in place the Indian Space Policy 2023 and a framework for non-governmental entities. The industry is […]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":1,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":8,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/parallax-space-act.jpg",400,225,false],"medium":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/parallax-space-act.jpg",300,169,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/parallax-space-act.jpg",150,84,false]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/author\/admin"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"...\"](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/imgsize-22151,msid-134175847\/.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
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