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Space Regulation in Belgium

Belgium's Law of 17 September 2005 on the activities of launching, flight operation or guidance of space objects (amended 2013) requires prior authorisation by the Minister in charge of space research for activities in areas under Belgian jurisdiction or control or using Belgian installations. BELSPO handles the files and keeps the National Register of Space Objects; the implementing Royal Decree dates from 15 March 2022.

National Space Law

Law on Activities of Launching, Flight Operation and Guidance of Space Objects 2005

  • •Prior, personal and non-transferable authorisation by the Minister (Art. 4)
  • •Territorial scope; Belgian nationals abroad only where an international agreement so provides (Art. 2)
  • •Environmental impact study before authorisation (Art. 8)
  • •Registration in the National Register of Space Objects, effective at launch (Art. 14)
  • •State recourse against the operator, limited to 10% of average annual turnover or budget (Art. 15; Royal Decree of 15 March 2022, Art. 11)
  • •Inspection, suspension, withdrawal and authorised transfers (Art. 10-13)

National Competent Authority (NCA)

BELSPO

Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO)

Authorization Requirements

  • Application to the Minister on the official form, handled by BELSPO (Art. 7; Royal Decree Art. 2)
  • Operator's technical, financial and legal guarantees (Art. 7 §2)
  • Initial environmental impact study (Art. 8)
  • External verification of the impact study for Class U objects (cubesats) (Royal Decree Art. 3)
  • Fee of EUR 1,000 (Royal Decree Art. 13); decision within 90 or 120 days (Art. 9)

Insurance & Liability

No statutory insurance duty or amount: the Minister may require third-party insurance as a condition of the individual authorisation (Art. 5 §2), and the State has a direct action against the insurer (Art. 15 §7). There is no State guarantee scheme; the State's recourse against the operator is limited to 10% of the operator's average annual turnover or budget (Royal Decree of 15 March 2022, Art. 11), unless the operator breached its conditions, failed to alert the crisis centre or acted without authorisation (Art. 15 §4, 16 §2, 19 §3).

Key Differences from EU Space Act

If the EU Space Act proposal (COM(2025) 335) is adopted as a Regulation, it would apply directly alongside the Belgian law and add detailed rules the Belgian law does not contain, notably on debris mitigation (Art. 58-74) and cybersecurity (Art. 75-95).

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Caelex Coverage

Relevant compliance modules for Belgium:

authorizationinsurancesupervision

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Space Regulation in Belgium | Caelex