Space law

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Basic data
Title: Space law
Long title: Federal Act on Authorizing Space Activities and the Establishment of a Space Register (Outer Space Act).
Type: Federal law
Scope: Republic of Austria
Legal matter: Space law
Reference: BGBl. I No. 132/2011
Effective date: December 27, 2011
Last change: BGBl. I No. 37/2018
Legal text: ris.bka
Please note the note on the applicable legal version !

The Austrian Space Act is a federal law that was passed in the National Council on December 6, 2011. On December 15, 2011, it happened to the Federal Council. Together with the Space Ordinance, it forms the domestic legal basis for the fulfillment of the international legal obligations from the space treaties .

scope of application

Section 1. (1) This federal law applies to space activities that

  1. on Austrian territory,
  2. on ships or aircraft registered in Austria or
  3. from an operator who is an Austrian citizen or a legal person domiciled in Austria,

be performed.
(2) This federal law is only applicable to claims under private law if Austrian law is decisive according to the rules of international private law.

Liability issues

One of the aims of the Space Act is to prevent Austrian space objects from causing damage and the associated liability cases in an uncontrolled manner.

Natural or legal persons who carry out space activities must therefore prove to the Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology that they have taken out liability insurance for a minimum sum insured of 60 million euros per insured event to cover their liability for personal injury or property damage (Section 4 Para. 4 Space Act). As an exception, the Ministry of Space Activities, which serve science, research or training, may set a lower sum insured or exempt the operator entirely from the insurance requirement.

If the Republic of Austria has compensated the injured party for damage caused by space activity on the basis of international agreements such as the Convention on Liability for Damage to Space Objects, the Federal Government has a right of recourse against the operator (Section 11 of the Space Act).

Space Register

Sections 9 and 10 deal with the implementation of the Space Registration Convention .

§ 9. (1) The Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology keeps a register for space objects.

(2) Space objects are to be entered in this register for which Austria is regarded as the starting state according to Art. I of the Convention on the Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space, Federal Law Gazette No. 163/1980 .

(3) If other countries besides Austria come into consideration as the starting country, the relevant agreement according to Art. II, Paragraph 2 of the Convention on the Registration of Objects Launched into Space is decisive for registration in Austria.

(4) A space object to be entered in this register and all of its personnel are subject to the jurisdiction and control of Austria while it is in space or on a celestial body.

Section 10. (1) The following information must be entered in the register:

  1. Name of the starting state or states;
  2. an appropriate designation of the space object, its registration number and its ITU designation;
  3. Date and territory or place of take-off;
  4. basic parameters of the orbit, including
a) cycle time,
b) orbit inclination,
c) maximum distance from the earth (apogee),
d) minimum distance from the earth (perigee);
5. general function of space object;
6. Manufacturer of the space object;
7. Owner and operator of the space asset;
8. Further information that the Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology can specify, insofar as this is necessary in accordance with the state of the art, due to obligations under international law or relevant resolutions of international organizations.

(2) The operator must provide the Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology with the information specified in Paragraph 1 immediately after the space object has been launched.

(3) Likewise, the operator must immediately transmit all changes with regard to the information according to Paragraph 1.

(4) The information according to Paragraph 1 Z 1 to 5 must be forwarded by the Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology to the Secretary General of the United Nations through the Federal Minister for European and International Affairs. This applies mutatis mutandis to information according to Paragraph 3.

The Republic of Austria is the starting state for the Austrian small satellites TUGSAT-1 and UNIBRITE .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ordinance of the Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology for the implementation of the Federal Act on the Authorization of Space Activities and the Establishment of a Space Register (Space Ordinance ), Federal Law Gazette II No. 36/2015 of February 26, 2015.
  2. ↑ Austrian Register for Space Objects Website of the Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology , accessed on July 30, 2018
  3. ↑ Florian Freistetter : TUGSAT-1 and UniBRITE: Austria's first satellites fly into space. In: ScienceBlog Astrodicticum simplex , February 24, 2013.