International Commercial Spaceport and International Law, Indonesian Focus

Abstract

The era of space commercialization has come, and one of the commercialized aspects of it is the spaceport, where foreign entities can use the space launch facilities and location in another country to conduct space missions (e.g. for launching a satellite). However, there is no legal definition of ‘international’ commercial spaceport. It is indeed a common term in media, yet still an unexplored topic under international law. In the context of Indonesia, Through the Aeronautics and Space Agency named “Lapan”, Indonesian government is committed to construct a space infrastructure called "Spaceport" or "Cosmodrome", translated into Indonesian as "Bandar Antariksa" or "Bandar Luar Angkasa". The realization of Lapan’s plan has reached the stage of assessment and determination of the area to be used as the location of the spaceport. The ‘international’ elements of the international commercial spaceport can also be present in the stage of construction. Under Indonesian municipal law, The Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement is available to building spaceports, and the foreign element of it is the private partner can be an entity operating abroad and established under other countries law.