The European Commission is gearing up to publish the world’s first comprehensive space law.
Not content with regulating fertilizers, cars and cheeses, Brussels is looking to create an EU Space Label it could soon slap on rockets and satellites as part of efforts to force companies to use orbit responsibly.
“With each passing day, space is becoming more like the Wild West, and it’s time to have European rules,” said Christophe Grudler, a member of the European Parliament from France who is leading legislative work on IRIS2, the EU’s answer to SpaceX’s Starlink satellite communications system.
The European Commission is expected propose the world’s first comprehensive space law after Easter.
According to documents seen by POLITICO, the bloc’s diplomats have been briefed on plans to create an EU Space Label that will be used to designate companies that play by the new rules on sustainability and security, much in the same way that the bloc uses eco-labels to certify washing machines or televisions.
The “Wild West” as commonly perceived was a Hollywood invention. The actual wild west had its fair share of law and order. For instance, the famous shootout the Earp brothers participated in happened because they were enforcing a gun ordinance on no pistols in town.