The Unidroit Space Assets Protocol aims to facilitate the financing of space assets, but satellite industry leaders said the measure would have the opposite effect in practice, and would risk creating a new layer of regulation for satellite financing with serious negative consequences.

    In a joint announcement issued Feb. 23, the European Satellite Operators Association (ESOA), the Satellite Industry Association (SIA), the Canadian Satellite and Space Industry Forum (CSSIF), the Space Industry Association of Australia (SIAA) and the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) said they submitted a letter of protest to the Unidroit conference chairman.

   “The list of signatories includes established and start-up satellite operators on all continents, most of the world’s satellite manufacturers and launch providers, the major satellite insurance brokers and underwriters, the large banks participating in the satellite sector and the major satellite and space-related associations,” the satellite coalition said in a statement.

   The Space Assets Protocol aims to introduce a uniform regimen to govern the creation, perfection and enforcement of international interests in space assets, notably satellites. “It is envisaged that the cost of financing will be reduced as a result of the increased level of transparency and predictability for financiers, thereby making financing more widely available to a greater number of players in the commercial space sector,” Unidroit said in a statement posted to the organization’s website. “Such an instrument will, in particular, help bring much-needed financial resources to the NewSpace community, namely those small start-up companies that have emerged as a result of the booming commercial space sector.”

   Delegates of Unidroit and its member states are set to convene on Feb. 27 in Berlin for the Diplomatic Conference on the Draft Space Assets Protocol to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment. The satellite organizations urged delegates and member states to defer any consideration of the Space Assets Protocol due to an absence of support from the global satellite industry.

   ESOA Secretary General Aarti Holla said the global satellite industry has repeatedly raised its concerns with Unidroit during the last few years, but those concerns still remain unaddressed. “Satellite finance is a booming business, with operators of all sizes and from diverse countries raising funds to launch new satellites the world over. The Protocol is inconsistent with financial market practices and unnecessary.”