The Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources has invited public comment on the fees passengers should pay to travel into space or send items of equipment in an Australian owned or operated rocket.
The Department said the Government had agreed to introduce a partial cost recovery model for the assessment of applications under the Space (Launches and Returns) Act 2018.
“We are now inviting public consultation on the implementation of partial cost recovery for these activities,” the Department said.
“Fees for regulatory assessment of space related activity applications are not new,” it said.
“The proposed partial cost recovery framework updates the arrangements for fees set out in the Space Activities Act 1998 (the 1998 Act), and detailed in the Space Activities Regulations 2001.”
The Department said no fees had been charged since the reformed Space (Launches and Returns) Act 2018 and framework came into operation.
It said that under the partial cost recovery model, work performed within the Agency would not be cost recovered but work performed outside the Agency (by technical experts) would be.
“A partial cost recovery model also recognises that recipients who create the need for a Government activity, rather than the general public, should bear its costs,” it said.
The department said key topics of interest under consultation included; when partial cost recovery may be applied; the method for calculating the fee; timing for payment; and the circumstances in which a fee may be wholly or partly waived.
Consultations on the Department’s partial cost recovery model is open until 12 April and further information about the model, including how to have a say, can be accessed at this PS News link.
