Opinion
Alternative Law Journal
We have lift off !
Why Australia needs
the new Space Agency
Melissa de Zwart
Adelaide Law School, The University of Adelaide, Australia
Last September was an exciting month for space activ-
ities in Adelaide. Not only was the city graced with a visit
from space-entrepreneur Elon Musk, who declared
SpaceX’s intention to become a very fast terrestrial air-
line (using very big rockets) but the Australian govern-
ment also announced the creation of an Australian Space
Agency. This announcement has been met with great
enthusiasm by those already working in the Australian
space industry. So popular was the idea in fact that the
government made the announcement well before the
Report of the Expert Reference Group was completed.
The Expert Group, in its Review of Australia’s Space
Industry Capability, identified early in its national consult-
ations that there was a strong consensus across the
nation that an Australian space agency was needed to
lift national and international engagement; set national
policy and strategy to realise Australia’s ambitions in
the civil space sector; facilitate growth in the space indus-
try sector; and inspire the nation with Australia’s contri-
bution to human endeavours in space.
Why does Australia need a space agency? Does
Australia have anything to gain from participation
in outer space activities? What is in it for the
average Australian? And what does it have to do with
domestic law?
As an academic working in the space field, you get
used to all of the puns and indeed, I quite enjoy
the odd Star Wars reference. But it is time to acknow-
ledge both our proud history and our great future in
space endeavours. Australia was the fourth country
in the world to launch a satellite from its own territory
in 1967, with the WRESAT launch from Woomera,
in outback South Australia (admittedly courtesy of
an unwanted US Redstone rocket). The Parkes
Radiotelescope Observatory received some of the first
images of the Apollo-11 moon landing in 1969, so happily
fictionalised in the movie, The Dish. Further, we have a
significant role in ground-based space services such as
Corresponding author:
Melissa de Zwart, Adelaide Law School, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
Email: melissa.dezwart@adelaide.edu.au
2018, Vol. 43(2) 71–72
! The Author(s) 2018
Reprints and permissions:
sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/1037969X18787373
journals.sagepub.com/home/altlj
the Square Kilometre Array in the radio quiet zone of
Murchison, Western Australia, which is providing unique
insights into the very origins of the Universe. However,
we now want to ensure that we do more than rest on
past achievements by creating a regulatory environment
that encourages and facilitates new space industries.
The Expert Reference Group Report estimated
the worth of Australia’s space sector economy at
$3.94 billion in 2015–2016 financial year. The vast major-
ity of this (88 per cent) was contributed by the private
sector, largely from activities not associated in the popu-
lar mind directly with outer space, namely satellite TV,
broadband and communications services. It is easy to
overlook that many of our day-to-day ground-based ser-
vices are facilitated from space, including GPS-based ser-
vices like Uber, telecommunications and internet. The
strategy advocated by the Report is to triple the size
of the Australian space industry to $10–12 billion per
year by 2030, providing an additional 10,000 to 20,000
Australian jobs.
So what role does the Space Agency play in this devel-
opment, and what is the importance of the proposed
changes to the current regulatory structure in these
ambitious plans?
Contrary to most popular understandings, outer
space is regulated by a handful of international treaties,
the foundation being the Outer Space Treaty of 1967
(Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the
Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and
Other Celestial Bodies). These treaties articulate a series of
principles including liability for damage caused in space
and on Earth by space objects, the appropriate treatment
of astronauts and registration of space objects. Most
importantly, the space treaties impose an obligation on
domestic governments to bear ‘international responsibil-
ity for national activities in outer space’. This means that
the Australian government retains both responsibility
and liability with respect to launches and other space
72 Alternative Law Journal 43(2)

activities carried on by both government and non-
government operators.
Amendments have now been tabled to the Space
Activities Act 1998, to be renamed the Space (Launches
and Returns) Act 2018. These amendments do not expli-
citly relate to the new Space Agency but rather adjust
the regulatory environment in an effort to make regula-
tion less onerous for Australian operators. Indeed, the
Objects of the Act now specifically state the need to
ensure a balance between ‘the removal of barriers to
participation in space activities and the encouragement
of innovation and entrepreneurship in the space industry’
and the safety of space activities and risk of damage to
persons or property. The insurance limits for launch and
return, which were a major impediment to small space
operators, especially those contributing only a small part
of a large payload, have been reduced. Interestingly, and
possibly controversially, the Bill also includes a require-
ment for launch permit applications to include a strategy
for debris mitigation. This places Australia at the fore-
front of global recognition of the need to minimise space
debris – a growing risk to Earth orbits.
Much criticism had been directed at Australia, being
beaten by New Zealand in establishing a space agency
and having missed out (allegedly) on international
collaboration opportunities due to the fact that potential
partners simply did not know which part of government
to talk to. Now we have a Space Agency, we have a single
business entrance. The Bill does make an explicit refer-
ence to the possibility of an agreement between
Australia and another country with the purpose of estab-
lishing an international organisation to carry on activities
in outer space (facilitating membership of an inter-
national space agency, possibly a partnership with the
European Space Agency).
The Space Agency will open its doors on 1 July 2018,
with former CSIRO CEO Megan Clark AC in charge, at
least for the first year of operation. The Federal govern-
ment has allocated $41 million for the Agency in the
2018 budget, an amount which will not go far but is, at
least, an indication that more may follow. To be success-
ful, the Agency will need to be properly resourced, and
supported, and given the role both in regulation of space
activities and in encouraging science, technology and
entrepreneurial endeavours.
It goes without saying that I’m very excited about
what the Space Agency might bring, and thrilled that
the first leader of the Agency is a female with a back-
ground in science and commercialisation. Now instead of
doubting what role Australia may have in space, we – and
I include here law students and members of the legal
profession – need to embrace the pioneering spirit of
the engineers and scientists involved in the first space
launches of the 1960s and engage the opportunity with
open minds and wonder at what we might find.
Melissa de Zwart is Dean of Law at Adelaide Law
School, University of Adelaide.

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