A Glasgow MP’s Bill to limit rocket launch companies’ compensation for accidents or property damage passed its second reading in the House of Commons yesterday (Friday, March 7).
As the proposed legislation moves closer to becoming law, its implications for the North Uist spaceport consortium will raise local concerns among those in the vicinity.
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar granted the spaceport planning permission in 2023 despite strong local opposition. Moves by the campaign group Friends of Scolpaig were unsuccessful in their bid to have the Scottish Government call in the planning decision for review.
The spaceport near Scolpaig, Balemartin, is being developed by a consortium led by the Comhairle, who is also the landowner and the planning authority.
Labour’s Glasgow East MP John Grady, who has proposed the new Bill, argues that current legislation is a “deterrent” to investors and that limiting what they have to pay in compensation for accidents or property damage would boost jobs and investment.
His Space Industry (Indemnities) Bill seeks to amend 2018 legislation to establish a liability cap on a “firm footing.” The liability cap would be written into licences granted to space operators by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
Mr Grady told MPs that his Bill “has one big objective – to ensure further investment in the UK space industry”.
He said satellites and related technology are critical to modern life and that the launch industry represented a “very significant economic opportunity for the United Kingdom.”
Mr Grady continued: “European demand for satellites up to 2033 is forecast to be worth 50 billion dollars – even 2% of this would bring around one billion dollars in revenues for the UK economy alone.
“This provides a very serious economic opportunity to the United Kingdom, and we must seize this with both hands, and this is because we must get growth back into the British economy, and that is what our government is determined to do.”
Mr Grady also stressed the importance of space capability for defence: “We must invest in space and have our own capability here in the United Kingdom; that is absolutely critical.
“Over my lifetime, the domain of warfare sadly has expanded from ground and sea and air to space and also online, and it is absolutely critical that we invest in our capabilities here.”
Another Scottish Labour MP for Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch, Katrina Murray, also highlighted the defence implications.
She said: “The Prime Minister rightly reminded us this week of the need for Europe to be united and to not rely on the United States when conflict comes to our continent.
“Whilst this is true in Ukraine, it’s also immediately true in space.
“There may be competition within the sector in Europe.
“We’ve even heard about the competition within the sector in Scotland, but this is healthy.
“However, we need to break up the dominance of the US private sector in this space.’
Transport Minister Simon Lightwood said the government “fully supports this Bill.”
He commented: “If government did not limit the space flight operators’ liability, space flight companies and investors would instead look to more favourable regulatory regimes in other countries where governments share the risks involved by limiting an operator’s liability or by offering state guarantees, such as in the United States or in France.”
The North Uist development involves the construction of a sub-orbital vertical launch spaceport that includes an access road, fencing, a launch pad with a demountable launch tower, and water and liquid storage tanks with associated services and infrastructure.
