New law provides for space activities in Brazil

On August 1, 2024, the Brazilian Federal Government enacted Law No. 14,946/2024, which provides for space activities in Brazil.

Space activities that fall under the new regulation include:

• launch vehicles take-off from national territory;
• return of launch vehicles, or parts of it, to the Earth’s surface, landing on national territory;
• transportation of equipment and people to outer space from national territory;
• development of space objects in national territory;
• development of space objects abroad with the participation of a Brazilian entity;
• development of space objects commissioned by a Brazilian entity;
• space tourism;
• exploration of celestial objects;
• exploration of space resources;
• launch, command, control, re-entry, and recovery of space objects of which Brazil is the launching country;
• operation of equipment and systems that enable the operation, data reception, monitoring, and surveillance of space objects;
• services to extend the lifespan of satellites; and
• removal of space debris.

Key highlights

Law No. 14,946/2024 grants authority to the Aeronautical Command to regulate and supervise national defense space activities, while the Brazilian Space Agency (“AEB”) will regulate and supervise civil space activities in Brazil.

The new law also establishes two new public bureaus to cooperate with the monitoring of space activities:

• The first one is the Brazilian Space Registry (“Resbra”), a system for collecting, processing, and storing data and information on the topic, which will be created and coordinated by the AEB.
• The second bureau is the System for the Investigation and Prevention of Accidents in Space Activities (“Sipae”), which has the purpose of preventing accidents in space activities.

Additionally, the new law maintains the regulatory powers that are legally assigned to ANATEL as the telecom watchdog – which includes, for instance, granting and overseeing landing rights (item IX, article 19 of the Brazilian Telecommunications Law – “LGT”) and spectrum management (item VIII, article 19 of LGT). Thus, to avoid conflicts, Law No. 14,946/2024 established a framework within which ANATEL retains its legal authority over satellite telecommunications and related activities (e.g., satellite capacity, spectrum use), while the Aeronautical Command and the AEB are responsible for regulating and oversighting other space activities.

Furthermore, the new legislation introduces a key innovation regarding environmental protection and space sustainability. When it comes to concrete actions, Law No. 14,964/2024 provides for a new environmental licensing regime for space activities to be implemented by the competent federal agencies, based on  applicable technical requirements and on environmental legislation.

Finally, the new law establishes that space activity must be planned and carried out with regard for mitigating space debris generation. Regarding civil space activities, the AEB will be responsible for issuing specific regulations aimed at mitigating the generation of debris, while the Aeronautical Command will be in charge of coordinating such matters.

Demarest’s Public and Regulatory Law, Infrastructure and Project Financing and Telecommunications, Media, and Technology (TMT) teams are closely monitoring the development of the matter and remains available to provide any clarifications.