Correspondence

Letter from the Chief Executive of the Civil Aviation Authority to Chair of the RIO

Published 5 December 2025

Chief Executive’s Office
UK Civil Aviation Authority

‘Sent by email only’

22 October 2025

Dear Lord Willetts,

Regulatory Innovation Office and Spaceflight engagement

Thank you for your letter of 21 October.

We welcome the positive engagement with the Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO) in its first year of operation in its support of the government’s growth agenda.

As the independent space regulator there are areas where we can and are taking the lead to improve space licensing and regulation. We are enabling growth through our programme of continuous improvement and through devoting significant resource to implement recommendations from the DSIT regulatory review and DfT’s Post Implementation Review (PIR) of the Space Industry Regulations – recognising these are key opportunities to improve the regulatory framework for the sector.

I would particularly highlight the key role that the CAA Space Team are taking in the development and delivery of the Regulatory Sandbox for complex and novel Rendezvous and Proximity missions. This should enable industry to understand and navigate the opportunities that the UK’s outcomes-based regulations present for unlocking nascent and emerging space markets and opportunities for the UK.

The CAA also engages with regulators internationally. This enables the UK space sector to grow by strengthening relationships, putting the UK’s outcomes-based framework on the map, promote high standards, support cross jurisdictional missions and maintain our positive reputation globally. We continue to lead innovative cross boundary engagement to support UK companies and growth. This includes engaging with industry and authorities directly on a bilateral basis (for example, most recently with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and the Australian Space Agency to develop a shared understanding of our respective regimes for interoperability aims). We also engage multilaterally through our work to establish the International Space Regulators Forum to enable regulatory knowledge share across agencies in Europe, Asia Pacific, the US and Canada.

Turning to commitments, the CAA has agreed to provide commitments in the following areas.

1. Publish metrics that assess both performance and current practices aimed at improving the CAA’s licensing processes for space activities.

The CAA is committed to continuous improvement in its regulation of space activities, ensuring our processes remain proportionate, agile and outcomes-focused while upholding the UK’s high standards of safety, security and sustainability. Recent improvements, for example streamlining the orbital Technical Question Set, simplifying environmental assessments, and developing risk-based financial frameworks, demonstrate how we adapt to support innovation and reduce burdens on applicants.

Working closely with the RIO, we are now developing robust metrics to assess the effectiveness of these reforms, including operational efficiency, stakeholder satisfaction, and indicators of sector growth. This collaboration will provide transparent evidence of how regulatory improvements are unlocking innovation, attracting new operators, and reinforcing the UK’s reputation for a world-leading, responsible and enabling regulatory framework. By aligning evaluation with industry needs and national priorities, the CAA and RIO can ensure that regulating not only protects safety and sustainability but also delivers growth and competitiveness for the UK space sector.

Starting from the beginning of 2026, the CAA will publish key performance metrics, such as average licensing times, to give businesses clarity to inform business planning.

2. Adapt the orbital licensing process to deliver a more streamlined approach.

The CAA look forward to working with HMG to explore more transformative opportunities to improve regulation of orbital activities. Including:

• Explore opportunities to licence and regulate constellations, rather than individual satellites within constellations.
• Work with HMG to explore potential of licensing operators rather than individual missions and other options that may achieve similar outcomes.

Over the next 6 months, CAA will work with HMG to explore with industry the potential of licensing operators rather than individual missions or other options, such as licensing constellations that may achieve similar outcomes. The CAA will aim to deliver a more flexible regulatory framework by early 2027.

3. Prioritisation and delivery on maximising the use of digitisation to deliver efficiencies for the licensing and monitoring, as well as space operator management.

The CAA will deliver a Discovery Project this financial year into the better use of IT to support space licensing. Further work next financial year on IT/Digitisation will depend on the outcome of the Discovery Project, the business case and funding from government.

We are reviewing our Organisational Design to ensure that the CAA is set up in the most efficient and flexible way to regulate and support the sector longer term, as priorities evolve over the next 3 years. We are also building our monitoring and inspection capability to help keep licensing off the critical path and reflect the longer-term needs of the sector as it grows in the UK.

By January 2026, the CAA will deliver a Discovery Project, exploring options to update IT systems for licensing and monitoring applications from space operators, to help deliver greater efficiency, transparency, and responsiveness to industry.

4. Considering where additional clarity and transparency may aid operator compliance with licence conditions

The CAA commits to:

• reviewing and improving orbital licence terms, conditions and reporting requirements and publishing licence templates for orbital activities.
• Publishing its Regulatory Objectives.
• Working with HMG to embed mechanisms to get timely HMG policy clarity on issues which can cause regulatory delays.

Together, these measures will provide applicants greater transparency and regulatory certainty.

The CAA will review and improve orbital licence terms, conditions and reporting requirements, and publish licence templates for orbital activities. This will help to remove compliance uncertainties and make it easier for industry to understand and meet their obligations.

5. Support the RIO in efforts to streamline environmental information requirements for UK launches.

The CAA will support the RIO’s work with government bodies and regulators to improve coordination among regulators on environmental information requirements for UK spaceports and launch activities (noting that environmental legislation is devolved), supporting increased UK launch capacity and reducing regulatory barriers for operators.

Closing remarks

The CAA looks forward to building on the close and collaborative working relations that we have with DSIT, the UK Space Agency, DfT and the RIO as we continue to support growth of the space sector by ensuring that licensing and regulation is transparent, proportionate, agile and clear to navigate.

Yours sincerely,

Rob Bishton
Chief Executive
UK Civil Aviation Authority