Why in News?

• The Centre is likely to introduce a Bill to commercialise space activities in the budget session this year.

Space Activities Bill 2017:

• It is a proposed Bill to promote and regulate the space activities of India.
• The Bill aims to facilitate the overall growth of space activities in India with higher order participation of public, non-governmental and private sector stakeholders.
• The Bill encourages the participation of non-governmental/private sector agencies in space activities in India under the guidance and authorisation of the government through the Department of Space.
• As few start-ups in India have shown interest in space activities there is an urgent need for a legal environment for orderly performance and growth of space sector.
• It will help the Centre establish a regulatory mechanism through an appropriate body to authorize and license space activities.

Provisions of the Bill:

• The provisions of this Act shall apply to every citizen of India and to all sectors engaged in any space activity in India or outside India
• A non-transferable licence shall be provided by the Central Government to any person carrying out commercial space activity
• The Central Government will formulate the appropriate mechanism for licencing, eligibility criteria, and fees for licence.
• The government will maintain a register of all space objects (any object launched or intended to be launched around the earth) and develop more space activity plans for the country
• It will provide professional and technical support for commercial space activity and regulate the procedures for conduct and operation of space activity
• It will ensure safety requirements and supervise the conduct of every space activity of India and investigate any incident or accident in connection with the operation of a space activity. It will share details about the pricing of products created by space activity and technology with any person or any agency in a prescribed manner.
• If any person undertakes any commercial space activity without authorisation they shall be punished with imprisonment up to 3 years or fined more than ₹1 crore or both.

Issues with the Bill:

• The Bill does not address space-based activities separately.
• Instead, it tries to cover large swaths of the space value chain in one go.
• In fact, the very definition of “space activity” could throw up complications.
• The definition puts every space object under its ambit, meaning even hardware that carries GPS receivers could require a license.
• The Bill could also affect navigation services provided by companies such as Google Maps, Ola and Uber.