Registration and secured financing of space assets in the Maltese jurisdiction : can and will Maltese law provide an adequate legal framework?

Abstract

As is indicative by the publishing of a ‘National Space Strategy’ in 2022 and the opening of a public consultation for a Draft Space Activities Act in 2024, the Maltese government has recently expressed interest in entering the space industry, in which it seeks to encourage and foster an environment fit for the simulation of private commercial space activities. It aims to construct a legal environment which fulfils two objectives: the first being to support and attract private space operators who undertake these space activities, and the second being to benefit and aid the financiers who wish to fund them. This dissertation posits that achieving both the first and the second objective does not only necessitate sound compliance with the international law that applies to outer space, but also a sound system for the registration of space assets in order to subject them to Maltese jurisdiction. This system should adhere to international requirements in the Outer Space Treaty and Registration Convention, and should be also be drafted with the right blend of innovation and flexibility to create a suitable environment for space operators. On the financial side, even if space assets can be suitably subjected to Maltese jurisdiction, this dissertation posits that financiers stand to benefit only if a local secured transactions law can properly cater to the special nature of space assets and space operations. As such, this dissertation analyses whether Malta should ratify the Registration Convention and reconceptualise the concept of ‘launching state’ in the Draft Space Activities Act, and proposes potential amendments to certain provisions in the said act to achieve this purpose. Inspired by reforms in shipping and aviation law, this dissertation also proposes a potentially new security interest, the ‘space mortgage’, which seeks to aid the financiers of space operations.