International interest in space assets under the Cape Town Convention

Private human access to outer space is impossible without space equipment. Nowadays space equipment is increasingly being financed by private sector. Private sector financiers, naturally, seek to secure their interest in space equipment. At the same time, increasing international cooperation in space industry leads to some problems of legal character. Thus, space equipment involved in international cooperation programs crosses national borders and is subject to a certain jurisdiction in a given period of time. The problem is that when an interest is created in one jurisdiction, it may not necessarily be recognised in another one. In order to provide a unified approach to interests vested in space equipment an international legal instrument is necessary. The Cape Town Convention represents an international instrument designed to provide a unified approach to interests vested in mobile equipment, including space assets.

► Asset-based financing can boost development of private human spaceflight.
► The Cape Town convention is an international regulatory framework for asset-based financing.
► The Space Protocol specifies provisions of the convention regarding space assets.
► The Space Protocol covers equipment placed in or designed to be launched into outer space.
► Potentially some aerospace planes can be excluded from the scope of the protocol.