Open Access Research Article

SATELLITE-AS-A-SERVICE AND THE ATTRIBUTION GAP - RETHINKING LIABILITY, REGISTRATION AND CONTROL UNDER INDIA’S HOSTED-PAYLOAD REGIME

Author(s):
SAKSHAM MISHRA SIDDHI MISHRA AMOLIKA MAHESHWARI
Journal IJLRA
ISSN 2582-6433
Access Open Access
Volume 3
Issue 7
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Abstract

India’s emerging Satellite-as-a-Service (SaaS) model represents a significant shift from the traditional satellite architecture in which ownership, operation, payload and regulatory responsibility largely rested with a single entity. The new hosted-payload framework issued by the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) on 17 September 2026 formally facilitates arrangements in which a satellite bus and its payload may belong to different entities, including foreign entities. While this model reduces the cost and time required to access space, it also fragments ownership, operational control, regulatory responsibility and financial risk. This article argues that the hosted-payload model exposes an “attribution gap” between commercial space activities and the State-centric structure of international space law. The Outer Space Treaty, Liability Convention and Registration Convention continue to organise responsibility around States, launching States, registered space objects and jurisdictional control. Private contracts, however, can only redistribute commercial risk and cannot alter treaty-based State responsibility. The article examines this tension through the questions of liability, registration, jurisdiction, continuing supervision, operational control, data governance, spectrum and post-contract liability. It argues that India should move beyond contract-based regulation and develop a statutory framework specifically addressing hosted payloads and modular satellite architectures.

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Authors: SAKSHAM MISHRA, SIDDHI MISHRA & AMOLIKA MAHESHWARIRegistration ID: 1013280 | Published Paper ID: IJLRA13280, IJLRA13281 & IJLRA13291Year: Oct-2026 | Volume: 3 | Issue: 7Approved ISSN: 2582-6433 | Country: Delhi, IndiaPage No.: 353-372

Article Information

SATELLITE-AS-A-SERVICE AND THE ATTRIBUTION GAP - RETHINKING LIABILITY, REGISTRATION AND CONTROL UNDER INDIA’S HOSTED-PAYLOAD REGIME

Authors: SAKSHAM MISHRA, SIDDHI MISHRA, AMOLIKA MAHESHWARI

  • Journal IJLRA
  • ISSN 2582-6433
  • Volume 3
  • Issue 7
Citation Download Paper Full Details Search on Google Search on Google Scholar

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International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis

  • AbbreviationIJLRA
  • ISSN2582-6433
  • AccessOpen Access
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