Source · Select Committees · Science, Innovation and Technology Committee
Recommendation 11
11
Accepted in Part
Paragraph: 76
We understand that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is considering changes to its approach to...
Recommendation
We understand that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is considering changes to its approach to setting liability caps for orbital licences, including changing to a variable liability limit approach, where liability bands are defined and the maximum value is recommended to be £50m. We believe this approach will be welcomed by the industry, who want further certainty on the liability caps that will be applied to their operations. The Government should develop proposals for the variable liability approach as quickly as possible, opening the consultation on these by the end of UK space strategy and UK satellite infrastructure 77 December 2022. To ensure that the required certainty is brought to the space industry and that the UK’s launch sector begins to flourish, it should seek to implement the proposals by June 2023.
Government Response Summary
The government intends to consult in early 2023 on formal proposals on liability limits and insurance requirements for orbital operations and are aiming for implementation as soon as possible, dependent on the scope of the final methodology and insurance model(s).
Paragraph Reference:
76
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
the review of liability limits and insurance requirements for orbital operations (https:// www.gov.uk/government/consultations/call-for-evidence-to-inform-orbital-liability- and-insurance-policy). The UK Space Agency has established a working group of officials, orbital operators, insurers, academics and other industry experts to develop the world-first approach for setting variable limits of orbital operator liability using a safety and sustainability set of criteria. Good progress has been made in determining a set of criteria for the assessment. Development of the formal question set, scoring and implementation of the approach is also in progress. for alternatives to the current approach to insuring the third-party liability for orbital operators. These are: • A sector-led mutual—the government is assessing potential adaptations to the model proposed by the space sector to consider how it could be used in conjunction with the variable limit approach. • A collective insurance policy—this option would agree a single policy covering a number of licensees and negotiated by s sector organisation in the first instance and could be used in conjunction with the proposed mutual. • A government Space Bond—this option is proposed as a longer-term option for increasing funding for the UK space sector as a whole. The Government intends to consult in early 2023 on formal proposals on these matters and other recommendations from the review. We are aiming for implementation as soon as possible, although this will be dependent on the scope of the final methodology and insurance model(s) including any implementation measures that are needed to support these. 8 Government Response: UK space strategy and UK satellite infrastructure In addition, the Government is also exploring options to address the liability issue raised in the report by the Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform (recommendations 15.1).1 This was included in the Government’s response to the call for evidence referenced above.2