Australian space-tech stopped being hypothetical a while ago. In July 2025, Gilmour Space’s Eris became the first Australian-made orbital rocket to lift off from Australian soil — the test flight ended seconds after liftoff, but the milestone stands. Five months earlier, a Varda Space Industries capsule dropped out of orbit onto the Koonibba Test Range in South Australia — the first commercial spacecraft return ever authorised under Australian law, and the first commercial return to a commercial spaceport anywhere. Behind each of those milestones sits something less cinematic: a licensing file, years in the making, under the Space (Launches and Returns) Act 2018 (Cth).
A note on names, because it trips people up: Australia’s space legislation began life as the Space Activities Act 1998, one of the first national space law regimes in the world. It was substantially rewritten and renamed in 2018, with the new framework commencing in August 2019. If a term sheet, insurance policy or old advice memo refers to the Space Activities Act, it’s talking about the same statutory lineage — but the current rules live in the Space (Launches and Returns) Act and its subordinate Rules.
Who Actually Needs an Approval
The Act is triggered by a narrower set of activities than founders often assume. Broadly, you need an approval if you are:
- launching a space object from Australia (or returning one to Australia);
- an Australian national launching a space object overseas — which is how most Australian satellite startups get caught, because their hardware flies on a SpaceX or Rocket Lab vehicle from a foreign spaceport;
- operating a launch facility in Australia; or
- launching a high power rocket in Australia, even a suborbital one.
Applications are processed by the Australian Space Agency within the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, with final decisions made by the Minister. Building satellites, operating ground stations, or selling downstream data doesn’t itself require an approval under this Act — though other regimes apply (more below).
The Six Approvals
The Act creates six approval types, and knowing which one you need is the first real step in any space-tech regulatory strategy:
- Launch facility licence — to operate a launch site in Australia. Gilmour’s Bowen Orbital Spaceport received the first orbital launch facility licence in March 2024.
- Australian launch permit — to launch a space object from Australia (or from an aircraft in Australian airspace). Gilmour secured the country’s first orbital launch permit in November 2024.
- Overseas payload permit — for Australian nationals launching a space object from a facility outside Australia. The workhorse permit for satellite startups.
- Return authorisation — to return a space object to Australia (or for an Australian national to return one overseas). This is what Southern Launch and Varda obtained for the Koonibba re-entries.
- High power rocket permit — for high power rockets that don’t reach space but exceed thresholds in the Rules; relevant to propulsion startups and test campaigns.
- Authorisation certificates — a flexible mechanism for activities that don’t fit neatly into the categories above.
Each approval comes with detailed application requirements under the Space (Launches and Returns) (General) Rules 2019: flight safety analyses, debris mitigation strategies, technology and environmental documentation, and sign-off from suitably qualified experts.
The Permit Most Startups Actually Need
If your startup’s product is a satellite, your launch will almost certainly be a rideshare from the United States or New Zealand — and your regulatory path runs through the overseas payload permit. You’ll need one even though the launch provider holds its own licences at home, because Australia remains internationally responsible for space objects launched by its nationals under the UN space treaties.
The practical good news: the compliance burden here is far lighter than it was under the old Space Activities Act. Since the current Insurance Rules commenced in 2019, the prescribed minimum insurance for launches authorised by an overseas payload permit has been nil — recognition that the launch provider’s own insurance and the foreign regulator’s requirements already cover the launch phase. You’ll still need to satisfy the Agency on debris mitigation (including end-of-life de-orbit planning) and demonstrate the launch doesn’t compromise Australia’s national security or international obligations. Factor the permit into your launch contract timeline: signing a rideshare agreement with a launch window your permit can’t meet is an expensive way to learn about regulatory lead times.
Insurance and Liability
For launches and returns in Australia, the Act requires insurance up to the lesser of $100 million or the maximum probable loss (MPL) calculated under the methodology published by the Department. In exchange, a responsible party that complies with its approval has its liability for third-party damage effectively capped at the insured amount, with the Commonwealth standing behind claims above it, up to a statutory cap — a risk allocation that mirrors Australia’s own exposure under the UN Liability Convention, which makes launching states liable for damage their space objects cause on Earth. Directors’ and officers’ cover and the rest of your insurance stack sit alongside, not instead of, this regime.
Launching without an approval isn’t a paperwork problem — it’s a criminal offence carrying penalties of up to 10 years’ imprisonment, with substantial fines for corporations and civil penalty provisions alongside.
A Regulator That’s Getting Faster
The framework has been through two deliberate rounds of streamlining. Stage 1 amendments in August 2023 relaxed the requirement that suitably qualified experts be independent of the applicant. The Stage 2 reforms, in force since 4 February 2025, removed the cumbersome three-stage application process for launch facility licences, cut the pre-launch safety notification period from 30 to 20 days, and clarified the definition of “accident”. The direction of travel is clearly toward a more workable regime — but “streamlined” is relative. Gilmour’s path from facility licence (March 2024) to permit (November 2024) to launch (July 2025) is the realistic benchmark: think years from first engagement to flight for launch activities, and months for an overseas payload permit.
Beyond the Act
The Act is necessary but not sufficient. A space-tech startup’s full regulatory map usually also includes spectrum licensing through the ACMA and ITU coordination for anything that transmits; CASA airspace approvals for launch and test activity; export controls under the Defence Trade Controls regime for satellite and propulsion technology on the Defence and Strategic Goods List — a live issue in every cross-border hire, investor data room and offshore partnership; and, for spaceport operators, the Australia–US Technology Safeguards Agreement, which opened the door for US launch vehicles to fly from Australian sites under strict technology-protection conditions. Founders coming out of university programs should also revisit who owns the background IP before regulators, investors or export control officers start asking.
The strategic point is simple: in space-tech, regulatory capability is commercial capability. The startups that treated licensing as a core workstream — not a legal afterthought — are the ones whose names are now attached to Australian firsts.
This article is general information only, not legal advice — the approvals your venture needs turn on exactly what you’re launching, from where, and for whom. Viridian Lawyers advises Australian startups on regulatory strategy, capital raising and technology transactions, including in the space sector. If your startup is heading for orbit, get in touch early — preferably before you sign the launch contract.
