Chiara Biella Law Firm
ITA 🇮🇹

Space Economy:
Regulatory Observatory

  • Legal Insight
  • Home
  • Space Economy: Regulatory Observatory

Regulatory Observatory: The Italian “Space Law”, EU Perspectives, and the International Framework


Space law is rapidly evolving and involves navigating international, European, and national legislation, as well as non-binding legal instruments (soft law) such as principles, recommendations, and guidelines. Below is an operational overview of the national, European, and global regulations.

In this law insight:

  • 1. The National Framework: Italian Law No. 89 of 2025
  • 2. The Proposal for a European Space Act
  • 3. The International Regulatory Framework
1. The National Framework: Italian Law No. 89 of 2025

On June 13, 2025, Italian Law No. 89 establishing “Provisions regarding the Space Economy” (the “Space Law”) was enacted. The law, which entered into force on June 25, 2025, serves as the first comprehensive framework intended to regulate access to outer space, investment promotion, research, and skills development. In summary, the Space Law sets forth the following.

  • Authorization: Establishes an authorization regime for carrying out space activities.
  • Registration: Sets out provisions on the registration of space objects, reiterating the existing obligation and systematizing previous regulations into a unified text.
  • Liability: Introduces new provisions regarding the liability of space operators, incorporating and superseding Law No. 23/1983.
  • Insurance: Imposes a specific mandatory insurance requirement on operators.
  • Space Economy: Provides support measures, allocating €35 million for 2025, and provisions to facilitate the involvement of SMEs and innovative start-ups in public procurement.


Scope of Application. The law covers space activities by all operators in Italian territory, and by national operators abroad, using a broad definition of “space activity”.

Current Status. The law leaves technical details for operational implementation to pending implementing decrees.


Update (December 2025). With the conversion law of Decree-Law No. 156/2025, a significant amendment to Article 21, paragraph 5, of the Space Law was approved. Parliament removed the reference to “willful misconduct” (dolo) regarding the insurance obligation, aligning the rule with the general principles of Article 1900 of the Italian Civil Code.

Coming soon. Pending the issuing of the implementing decrees, the Firm is preparing an Operational Document for industry operators to be published here shortly.

European Space Act
2. The Proposal for a European Space Act

On June 25, 2025, the European Commission published a draft regulation on the safety, resilience, and sustainability of space activities in the European Union. The debate is ongoing: The Commission's initial draft was followed by a public consultation and a compromise text from the Presidency of the European Council (December 2025).

Key Points:

  • Single Market. The EU aims to create a true European single market for space. The Commission chose to base its competence on Article 114 TFEU (internal market harmonization) – rather than on Article 189 TFEU (space policy) – to overcome fragmentation in national laws and impose common standards.
  • Critical Issues. During the public consultation concluded in November 2025, the Commission's initial proposal was criticized on several grounds, including the risk of excessive compliance costs for companies.

Next Steps: The draft regulation, if enacted, would become directly applicable in Italy (without the need for national transposition), with a proposed effective date on January 1, 2030. Ongoing discussions in Brussels shall be monitored.

Overview of International Space Law: hard and soft law
3. The International Regulatory Framework

There are five UN treaties governing outer space law:

  • Outer Space Treaty (OST), 1967. The main treaty (117 ratifications).
  • Rescue Agreement (ARRA), 1968, on the rescue of astronauts and the return of space objects (100 ratifications).
  • Liability Convention (LIAB), 1972, on international liability for damage (100 ratifications).
  • Registration Convention (REG), 1975, on the registration of space objects (77 ratifications).
  • Moon Treaty, 1979. The least successful agreement (only 17 ratifications; Italy has not ratified it). Note: The Moon Treaty defines the Moon and its resources as the “Common Heritage of Mankind”. This concept differs from that of the OST, which defines space as the “Province of all Mankind” and res communis omnium, guaranteeing freedom of access but without imposing the international resource management regime envisioned under the Common Heritage of Mankind principle.

Soft Law and Future Developments (COPUOS). Several non-binding legal instruments were also adopted, including the guidelines adopted by COPUOS in 2019 for the Long-Term Sustainability of Space Activities (“LTS Guidelines”). Within the COPUOS Working Groups (WGs), the current debate also focuses on:

  • Space Resources: The Legal Subcommittee’s WG is drafting “Recommended Principles” for the exploration, extraction, and utilization of resources, seeking a balance between the principle of non-appropriation and the freedom of commercial use.
  • Sustainability and SSA: Beyond the implementation of the LTS Guidelines, a new Expert Group on Space Situational Awareness was established in 2025 to address cooperation and information exchange regarding space traffic.
  • Nuclear power: Work continues under a five-year plan to promote and implement the Safety Framework on the use of nuclear power sources in space, a key technology for future Deep Space missions.

Useful Resources:

Italian Space Law European Space Act OST International Space Law