National Space Authorisation and the Operationalisation Deficit of Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty

Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty requires states to authorise and continuously supervise national activities in outer space. Through the duty to prevent genocide and the standard of due diligence, the exercise of these licensing powers becomes relevant conduct under the law of state responsibility, yet national authorisation regimes lack the procedure needed to show how the powers were used. A comparison of two statutory strands locates the gap. New Zealand and the United Kingdom make consistency with international obligations a condition of grant, Luxembourg addresses the obligations to the operator, and the proposed EU Space Act omits the condition. None of these regimes specifies an object of inquiry, requires reasons, grants standing to affected third parties or defines a trigger for reconsideration. Germany, the United States and France regulate the dissemination of satellite data through a specified object of inquiry, defined occasions of review and documentation duties, but as security and export law. The foreign-policy risk of commercial space activity falls between the two strands. Drawing on arms transfer control and on English and Dutch case law on export licensing, the article proposes six design elements that national legislation can enact without treaty amendment, and argues that legislation rather than judicial review must close the gap.