Lift-Off of Space Governance in Spain: The Creation of the Spanish Space Agency

Abstract

The space sector represents a strategic industrial cluster in global terms that makes a major contribution to industry, environment, communications, and defence, amongst other domains. Outer space holds enormous potential, which has already been noticed by private operators who regard it as an appealing business opportunity. The importance of the space sector for the Spanish industry has remained constant and has only increased over the last few decades, making apparent the pressing need to bring together under a single public body the competences in space matters which are institutionally dispersed in our country. After several years of persistent demand from the Spanish space industry, the National Security Strategy was adopted in December 2021. This document raised the sector’s hopes by announcing, as one of its lines of action, the intention to establish a Spanish Space Agency to promote the national industry and international cooperation with other similar organisations and/or organisations of interest in the field. In this context, since the adoption of the said Strategy, the Spanish space sector has been the target of a recent regulatory and institutional development, culminating in the creation of the long-awaited Spanish Space Agency on March 7th, 2023. Such an administrative evolution is the subject of this paper, whose main purpose is to conduct an analysis of all the provisions approved during the years 2021 to 2023 that concern our national space sector as a reference for those interested in the topic regarding what has happened in the Spanish space industry throughout recent years.