Space Law in Australia: The Launches and Returns Act, Permits and Liability
Space law in Australia explained: the Launches and Returns Act, its six approvals, A$100m insurance, the A$3bn backstop and the gap it leaves in orbit.
Space law in Australia gets less attention than it deserves. The country has a launch site licensed for orbital flight, a commercial reentry range that has received a capsule from orbit, and a permit system that reaches Australian companies launching anywhere in the world. All of it sits in a single Act that is short enough to read in an afternoon.
This guide explains how that Act works as of 9 November 2026, relying on the compiled Act, the rules made under it and the government’s published list of decisions.
One Act and three sets of rules
The Space (Launches and Returns) Act 2018 began life as the Space Activities Act 1998. The Space Activities Amendment (Launches and Returns) Act 2018 rewrote and renamed it, and the new regime commenced on 31 August 2019. The current compilation is dated 14 October 2024.
Its objects include regulating space activities carried on from Australia or by Australian nationals abroad, and balancing “the removal of barriers to participation in space activities” against safety.
The detail is in three legislative instruments made in 2019: the General Rules, the High Power Rocket Rules and the Insurance Rules. The Minister makes the decisions and can delegate them. In practice applications go to the Office of the Space Regulator within the Australian Space Agency.
The Act turns on a simple definition. A “space object” is an object, or part of one, that is to go into or come back from “an area beyond the distance of 100 km above mean sea level”. Few national laws draw that line so explicitly; our explainer on where space begins sets out the competing views.
The six approvals
The Act makes it an offence or civil penalty matter to do any of the following without the right approval.
A launch facility licence is needed to operate a launch facility in Australia. Operating one without a licence attracts a civil penalty of up to 1,000 penalty units under section 11.
An Australian launch permit is needed to launch a space object from a facility in Australia, from an Australian aircraft in flight, or from a foreign aircraft in Australian airspace (section 12). It can also cover the object’s return.
A high power rocket permit is needed to launch a high power rocket from Australia (section 13). The High Power Rocket Rules define these by motor power: a combined total impulse above 889,600 newton seconds, or above 40,960 newton seconds with active trajectory control.
An overseas payload permit is needed when an Australian national is a responsible party for a space object launched from outside Australia (section 14). “Australian national” includes citizens, residents and companies incorporated in Australia, so an Australian startup sending a cubesat up on a foreign rideshare needs one.
A return authorisation is needed to return a space object to a place in Australia, or for an Australian national to return one anywhere else, unless a launch permit already covers it (sections 15 and 15A).
An authorisation certificate is a catch-all that can cover conduct the other instruments do not fit.
The criminal penalty for the launch and return offences in sections 12 to 15A is the same throughout: for an individual, up to 10 years’ imprisonment or 5,500 penalty units or both; for a company, up to 100,000 penalty units. Section 6A gives the Act extraterritorial effect.
The UK splits the same ground between the Space Industry Act 2018 for activities in the UK and the Outer Space Act 1986 for UK entities abroad, as our guide to UK space law and licensing explains. Australia folds both into one statute.
Liability, insurance and the A$3 billion backstop
Part 4 of the Act sets out a domestic liability scheme that sits alongside the Liability Convention. Section 64 says compensation for third party damage covered by the Part “is only payable in accordance with this Part”, while preserving Australia’s own treaty obligations.
The basic rules mirror the Convention. Under section 67, the responsible party is liable for damage a space object causes to a third party on Earth or to aircraft in flight, with defences only for the third party’s gross negligence or intentional conduct. Under section 68, damage to other space objects in orbit is fault based.
The cap is in section 69. If a launch was authorised by an Australian launch permit or an overseas payload permit, and the damage did not result from a breach of permit conditions, intentional conduct or gross negligence, the responsible party is not liable beyond the insured amount for the permit. If Australian nationals are still owed more, the Commonwealth pays the excess up to A$3 billion.
Section 48 sets the insurance requirement. For a launch permit, the holder must insure both itself against its liability under the Act and the Commonwealth against its liability under the Liability Convention or other international law. The amount is the lesser of a figure in the rules, which cannot exceed A$100 million, and an amount calculated using the government’s maximum probable loss method. The Insurance Rules, as made in 2019, set A$100 million for launch permits, high power rocket permits and most return authorisations, and zero for overseas payload permits. An applicant can show direct financial responsibility instead of insurance.
Under section 73, claimants have one year from the damage, or from when they ought to have known of it, and cannot sue the operator once a foreign State has presented a treaty claim against Australia for the same damage.
What the regulator has actually approved
The government publishes a list of decisions about space activities. It shows how the instruments are used in practice.
Gilmour Space Technologies received a launch facility licence for the Bowen Orbital Spaceport in Queensland on 20 February 2024 and an Australian launch permit for its Eris Block 1 orbital launch on 4 November 2024. The rocket lifted off on 30 July 2025, Queensland time, and came down about 14 seconds later, as Live Science reported. No one was hurt. It was the first orbital launch attempt from Australian soil since a British Black Arrow flew from South Australia in 1971.
Returns have moved faster than launches. Varda Space Industries’ W-2 capsule landed at the Koonibba Test Range in South Australia on 28 February 2025, and in December 2025 the Minister gave Varda a return authorisation for three more capsule returns to Koonibba.
Overseas payload permits make up most of the list. On 12 December 2025 Lunaria One received an overseas payload permit for ALEPH-1, a plant growth experiment due to fly to the Moon on Intuitive Machines’ third mission. RMIT described it as “the first authorisation by the Australian Government for a lunar payload”.
The 2025 rule changes
The rules were amended with effect from 4 February 2025. According to the explanatory statement, the changes removed the three-stage application process for a launch facility licence, cut the Launch Safety Officer’s notice period from 30 to 20 days before a launch or return, and replaced “auditor” with “qualified accountant” for financial capacity reports.
The most consequential change was to the meaning of “accident”, which matters because accidents trigger the Act’s investigation regime. Under the rewritten section 121 of the General Rules, destruction or damage that is consistent with the stated purpose of a launch or return, where the flight safety system was not used, is not an accident unless third party property is damaged. Damage to other property is also not an accident where none of it belongs to a third party. The explanatory statement says this gives the Minister “broader discretion” over which events must be investigated; such events can still be treated as incidents.
Australia and the space treaties
Australia’s treaty position is unusual. It signed the Artemis Accords as one of the eight founding signatories in October 2020. Yet the UN treaty status table still lists Australia as a party to the Moon Agreement, to which it acceded on 7 July 1986. Saudi Arabia withdrew from that agreement with effect from 5 January 2024; Australia has not. Our piece on why almost no one ratified the Moon Agreement explains why that combination draws comment.
Australia also has a Technology Safeguards Agreement with the United States, which entered into force in July 2024 and allows US entities to conduct launch activities in Australia, according to DLA Piper’s review of the sector.
The gap: satellites already in orbit
The Act regulates launches and returns. As I read it, there is no licence for operating a satellite once it is in orbit, and no approval needed to buy or sell one there. Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty requires States to authorise and continuously supervise national activities in space, and the Liability Convention keeps Australia liable as a launching State for objects launched from its territory, whoever later controls them.
For an operator, that means fewer approvals. For the State, it means carrying liability for activities it has limited legal power to supervise.
What I would watch
The first is the Australian Flight Safety Code. DLA Piper reported in February 2026 that the Office of the Space Regulator expected to update it for the first time since 2019, adding collision avoidance and flight safety system standards. That code, more than the Act, will shape what the next Eris attempt must show.
The second is whether the government closes the in-orbit gap, which would bring Australia closer to the UK and Japanese models.
The third is ALEPH-1. If it reaches the Moon, Australia will have authorised a commercial lunar payload while still a party to the Moon Agreement, which is a question the government has not yet had to answer in practice.
Questions people actually ask
What is the main space law in Australia?
The Space (Launches and Returns) Act 2018, which commenced in its current form on 31 August 2019, supported by the General Rules, High Power Rocket Rules and Insurance Rules made in 2019. The responsible Minister makes decisions, with the Australian Space Agency’s Office of the Space Regulator administering the system.
Do Australian companies need a permit to launch a satellite overseas?
Yes. If an Australian national, including an Australian incorporated company, is a responsible party for a space object launched from outside Australia, it needs an overseas payload permit under section 14 of the Act. Launching without one is an offence.
Who is liable if an Australian launch causes damage?
The responsible party is strictly liable for damage on Earth and to aircraft in flight. If it complied with its permit conditions and was not grossly negligent, its liability is capped at the insured amount, and the Commonwealth compensates Australian nationals for the excess up to A$3 billion.
How much insurance does a launch from Australia need?
The lesser of A$100 million and the amount produced by the government’s maximum probable loss method, covering both the permit holder and the Commonwealth. Direct financial responsibility can be shown instead.
Where does space begin under Australian law?
The Act defines a space object by reference to an area beyond 100 km above mean sea level. Rockets that do not go that high may be regulated as high power rockets, which need their own permit.
Is Australia still a party to the Moon Agreement?
Yes. The UN treaty status table lists Australia as a party since its accession on 7 July 1986, although Australia also signed the Artemis Accords in October 2020.
Anuj KumarEditor-in-Chief
Anuj Kumar is the founder of Legal Desire Media and publishes Fashion Law Journal and Space Law Journal.
Space Law Journal is a joint initiative of Legal Desire Media and Odyogeek. Spotted something we got wrong, or want to respond? Write to space@legaldesire.com.
