Regulation 101 Additional requirement relating to the launch vehicle during operator’s spaceflight activities

(1)

If necessary to ensure that an operator’s spaceflight activities are carried out safely or to secure compliance with the international obligations of the United Kingdom, the spaceflight operator must after a launch vehicle has reached a stable orbit—

(a)

monitor the trajectory of that vehicle in so far as it is possible to do so,

(b)

monitor the basic orbital parameters of that vehicle including nodal period, inclination, apogee and perigee,

(c)

take reasonable steps to—

(i)

avoid the launch vehicle interfering with the space activities of other persons in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space,

(ii)

limit or prevent major accident hazards to the health, safety and property of persons arising from the launch vehicle in orbit, and

(iii)

prevent contamination of outer space arising from the launch vehicle in orbit or adverse changes in the environment of the earth from that vehicle in orbit, and

(d)

take any other action necessary to carry out the operator’s spaceflight activities safely.

(2)

If the spaceflight operator is disposing of the launch vehicle by causing it to re-enter through the earth’s atmosphere, that operator must carry out those activities in a way which ensures they are carried out safely.

(3)

In this regulation the reference to taking reasonable steps in paragraph (1)(c) may include—

(a)

avoiding the release of space debris;

(b)

avoiding a collision between the launch vehicle and its payload after the release or separation of that payload from the vehicle;

(c)

manoeuvring the vehicle;

(d)

deactivating a component part of that vehicle;

(e)

passivating that vehicle by dissipating the hazardous materials carried on board or preventing their accumulation.