Article 19

Derogations

1. A Member State may request the Commission to adopt a decision allowing the Agency to register a third country launch operator which does not comply with one or more of the conditions referred to in Article 15(2), if the public interest conditions referred to in paragraph 2 are met. A Member State shall lodge an application in accordance with paragraph 3, first subparagraph. For Union-owned assets, the Commission shall, on its own initiative, assess whether the public interest condition referred to in paragraph 2 is met.

2. As regards launch services, a Member State shall demonstrate that the launch services provided by a third country launch operator facilitate the access to, and the use of, space, when the following cumulative conditions are met:

(a) no readily available substitute or realistic alternative exists in the Union to the launch services provided by the respective third country launch operator;

(b) the launch services provided by the respective third country launch operator promote the technological capabilities of strategic importance for the Union or Member States.

3. The application referred to in paragraph 1, second subparagraph, shall:

(a) identify the third country launch operator for which a derogation is requested;

(b) specify in a clear, unambiguous and exhaustive manner all the requirements laid down in Article 15(2), for which a derogation is requested;

(c) outline the necessary technical details regarding the space mission concerned;

(d) provide the necessary evidence to demonstrate that the other requirements are met. The application regarding a third country launch operator shall propose, where possible, alternative mitigating measures to ensure that the objectives pursued by the requirements referred to in Article 15(2), for which a derogation is requested, are achieved or are at least partially achieved.

4. Upon receipt of the application referred to in paragraph 3, the Commission shall transmit it to the Agency. Within 1 month, the Agency shall issue a technical assessment on the compliance with the requirements laid down in Article 15 not subject to the application for derogation.

5. Within 2 months from the receipt of the technical assessment issued by the Agency pursuant to paragraph 4, the Commission shall, on the basis of that technical assessment, either adopt a decision granting a derogation to the respective third country launch operator, where the Commission concludes that the public interest condition referred to in paragraph 2 is met, or a decision refusing to grant such a derogation where it concludes that that public interest condition is not met. Those decisions shall be adopted as implementing acts in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 114(2).

6. When the Commission grants, pursuant to paragraph 5, first subparagraph, a derogation to a third country launch operator, it shall in parallel grant a derogation to the Union space operator using the launch services of the respective third country launch operator.

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