The Malaysian Space Board Bill 2020 ("the
Bill") was presented for its first reading before the
Dewan Rakyat on 3 November 2020 during the previous meeting of
Parliament. The second and third readings of the Bill have been
postponed to the next meeting of Parliament. The Bill is noteworthy
as it represents a new frontier for legislation in Malaysia –
the regulation of the space industry.
The purpose of the Bill is to establish a Malaysian Space Board to
regulate certain space-related activities, to regulate the
registration of 'space objects' and to provide for certain
space-related offences.
Defining the Galaxy
For the first time in any Malaysian law, the Bill defines
"space" as a void extending from 100km above mean sea
level. This distance of 100km above mean sea level is seemingly
derived from what is known in the scientific community as the
Kármán Line, a widely (but not universally) accepted
boundary between Earth's atmosphere and outer space.
The Bill's chosen definition of "space" is much more
important than it may at first seem. Every nation has the
fundamental right to sovereignty over its own airspace, the upper
limit of which is not currently capped by any international law. By
defining "space" as beginning at 100km above mean sea
level, the Bill will effectively limit Malaysia's sovereignty
to this specific distance. This distance will also seemingly serve
as the extent of jurisdiction for the nation's two civil
aviation regulators, the Malaysian Aviation Commission and the
Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia.
The Jedi High Council
As detailed in Clause 5 of the Bill, the composition of the
proposed Malaysian Space Board will be a unique inter-ministerial
mix. The Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Space Board is to be
respectively the Secretary General and Deputy Secretary General of
the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation
("MOSTI"). The remaining Space Board
members shall include one representative each from the Ministry of
Defence, Ministry of Communications and Multimedia, Ministry of
Home Affairs, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of International
Trade and Industry, and the National Security Council. These
representatives are to be appointed by the Minister of MOSTI.
Clause 14 of the Bill specifies that the Minister of MOSTI, on the
advice of the Chairman of the Space Board, shall also appoint a
person to be the "Space Regulator". The Space Regulator
is to be the Executive Secretary of the Space Board and has various
duties and powers conferred throughout the Bill.
No Space Lasers Allowed
Clause 15 of the Bill states that space shall only be used for
peaceful purposes and expressly prohibits the use of space for,
amongst others, installing or testing weapons of mass destruction,
establishing a military base, and conducting military manoeuvres.
However, the Explanatory Statement to the Bill specifies that the
use of military personnel for scientific research or other peaceful
purposes is permitted.
Conducting any of the prohibited space activities is an offence
with severe repercussions. Any person who commits such an offence
is liable to a fine of up to RM50 million or to imprisonment for up
to 30 years or to both. For corporate bodies, the punishment is a
fine of up to RM100 million.
Where an offence is committed by a body corporate, Clause 68
provides that the directors and certain officers and managers of
the body corporate may be held jointly and severally liable for the
offence. Under Clause 69, a person may in certain circumstances be
liable for offences committed by his employee, agent as well as an
employee of his agent.
Although it is not expressly stated, the inclusion of Clause 15
suggests that the Bill will be used to implement the Outer Space
Treaty which Malaysia signed aeons ago in 1967 but has yet to
formally ratify.1 The Outer Space Treaty, which has been
ratified or signed by a vast majority of countries, also stipulates
that outer space is only to be used for peaceful purposes.
Houston, We Have Lift-Off Licences
The Bill defines "space object" as a spacecraft and
launch vehicle, together with their component parts. Part VI of the
Bill prescribes various licensing and certification requirements
for such objects.
Clause 16 specifies that any person seeking to build or
manufacture a space object, own or operate a facility for the
testing of a space object, or own or operate a launch facility must
apply for a licence.
Clause 17 states that any launch service provider who intends to
launch a space object into space from a launch facility in Malaysia
shall apply for a launch permit. Clause 18 is similar in nature but
is considerably wider. It specifies that any citizen or permanent
resident of Malaysia, or any corporate body incorporated or
registered in Malaysia, who intends to launch a space object in
space must apply for a launch certificate, whether or not the
launch facility used is in or outside Malaysia.
Additionally, Clause 36 prescribes that any citizen or permanent
resident of Malaysia, or any corporate body incorporated or
registered in Malaysia, whose space object has been launched into
the earth orbit or beyond from a launch facility in or outside
Malaysia, must register the space object with the Space Regulator.
Clause 38 requires the Space Regulator to keep and maintain a
register of all such space objects.
Any failure to comply with Clauses 16, 17, 18 and 36 of the Bill
amounts to an offence.
All UFOs To Be Reported
Clause 41 is among the most interesting provisions in the Bill. It
imposes a positive obligation on all persons to notify the Space
Regulator if they discover any object which they have reason to
believe is a space object, or object which originated from space,
or any person whom they have a reason to believe is a personnel or
passenger of a spacecraft. The failure to notify the Space
Regulator of such a discovery is an offence.
In its current state, Clause 41 of the Bill is very vague. For
example, it does not specify if a notification must be made if the
space object is discovered in space itself, perhaps through the use
of a telescope, or if the notification obligation is limited to
space objects discovered on Earth. The Explanatory Statement to the
Bill does not provide any further guidance. Given that this
provision imposes a positive obligation, it will certainly require
a revision to provide some clarity.
Comment
It is fascinating that within the span of one generation, ideas
such as space tourism, space mining, and commercial space
exploration have moved at lightspeed from the realms of science
fiction to now become a virtual inevitability. As Malaysia takes
its first steps to regulate the space industry, we are also
witnessing the creation of a brand new legal practice area –
space law. It will be very interesting to monitor the development
of the Bill through the Houses of Parliament and we will provide
further updates in due course.
Footnote
1 The formal title is Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies; http://disarmament.un.org/treaties/t/outer_space.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.