ANACOM amends internal regulations on granting licences for space activities

On 21 October 2024, Regulation no. 1206-A/2024, ANACOM approved amendments to the legal regime governing the access to and exercise of space activities, in order to adapt it to the latest legislative developments.

Motivations:

The new Decree-Law no. 20/2024, of February 2, changed certain aspects regarding the types of space operation licences and the national licensing regime for launch centres on national territory and, to that extent, made it necessary to revise the law.

To this end, ANACOM as the Spatial Authority has adapted its internal governing the access to and exercise of space activities.

Taking advantage of the possibility of revision already provided for in that regulation, it also opted to include modifications of its own.

Main changes:

The main changes to the content of the regulation are highlighted below:

– densification of the technical, economic and financial capacity criteria required for the award of a space activity licence, regardless of the type of licence;

– clarification and updating of the requirements to be met by applicants for space operations licences, regarding the description of the space object to be launched, be it a launcher or return vehicle, or payload;

– removal of the express reference to the Federal Aviation Administration’s safety standards, leading to an amendment of this article and subsequent ones, in order to adapt the required elements to the new risk determination criteria;

– clarification of Article 28 on the duration of the licence.

To ensure regulation of the licensing regime for launch centre operations, created by Decree-Law 20/2024 of February 2, an autonomous chapter dedicated to this important matter was introduced.

The regulation sets out the procedures, award criteria and maximum term for the launch centre operating licence.

It also specifies new elements that must be included in the licence application process for launch and/or return operations of a launcher or return vehicle, with reference to mission control systems and processes.

Knowledge

04 Nov 2024