The trade of dual-use (civil and military) goods, services and technologies (SCOMET items) are closely scrutinized to ensure that they do not fall into the wrong hands. As a consequence of this, businesses who legitimately deal with such items are also required to pass this scrutiny. We provide an overview of the regulations governing theRead more
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The Ministry of Civil Aviation has released the Unmanned Aircraft System Rules, 2021. We provide a summary of the rules and take a look at some of the key highlights. In June 2020, the Ministry of Civil Aviation released the draft Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Rules 2020 (UAS Rules or Rules). After seeking comments and holding consultations with stakeholders forRead more
Ikigai Law advised Pixxel Space on their contract to launch their earth observation satellite with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The ISRO chairperson calls this mission “first of its kind,” being the first private remote sensing satellite to launch from India. The satellite will fly on board a polar satellite launch vehicle. The Department of Space hasRead more
The Department of Space of the Indian government released a draft ‘Space Remote Sensing Policy 2020’ and ‘Norms, Guidelines and Procedures to implement the Space RS Policy 2020’ in November 2020. This blogpost discusses our comments to this draft policy, which we have also submitted to the Department of Space . Introduction: In November 2020,Read more
The Ministry of Civil Aviation recently released the discussion draft of the National Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Traffic Management Policy, seeking to create the required infrastructure for UAS operations and to spell out the various aspects of UAS traffic management in India. This blogpost contains the comments we submitted to the Ministry on the draftRead more
The Ministry of Defence has taken several measures to boost self-reliance in defence manufacturing. However, there are several challenges facing India in its pursuit of self-reliance. In this piece, we discuss both. Recent measures to achieve self-reliance in defence manufacturing For a few years now, the Ministry of Defence has tried to boost theRead more
The Ministry of Defence recently released the Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020 with several new amendments and a stronger push for indigenisation. In this piece, we provide an overview of the key changes introduced by the Ministry. In March 2020, the Ministry of Defence released the draft Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2020. After seeking comments fromRead more
The Department of Space recently released a draft Spacecom Policy 2020, along with the draft Norms, Guidelines and Procedures for the implementation of the Spacecom Policy, also known as ‘Spacecom NGP’ 2020. This blogpost highlights our comments to these draft policy documents, highlighting some unaddressed areas. We have submitted these comments to the Department ofRead more
Ikigai Law advised Pixxel Space, an Indian space-tech startup, in contract negotiations for its forthcoming satellite launches aboard a SpaceX Falcon-9 and a Russian Soyuz space craft. Pixxel is building a constellation of earth imaging satellites to provide real-time remote sensing data across the world. It is planning to launch 30 satellites by June 2023. Its satellites aim toRead more
India does not have an established space policy governing liability and insurance issues. The pending Space Activities Bill, 2017 and the draft Space Based Communications Policy, 2020 hold private entities solely liable for any damage caused due to space operations. This creates an undue burden on start-ups and discourages them from taking on additional spaceRead more