Year in review: Space Law in Lithuania

Year in review

Lithuania’s space law and industry have seen significant development in 2023 and 2024, building on the country’s status as a hub for small satellite manufacturing and advancing other space-related sectors, such as software solutions for the space industry.

Commercial developments

Since launching the first Lithuanian small satellite in 2014, Kongsberg NanoAvionics has continued manufacturing and distributing satellites for governments, space agencies and private companies in various jurisdictions, including the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and France.¹³ In 2023 and 2024, Kongsberg NanoAvionics has manufactured and launched more than 40 satellites. In 2025, it expects to expand its capabilities to provide the capacity to produce 120 small satellites annually.¹⁴

In another major achievement, in 2024, Lithuanian space start-up Astrolight was deemed to be among the top 10 innovators from North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries and received €300,000 in investment from NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic.¹⁵ Astrolight received this nomination due to its laser communications technology, which enables data transmission that is 10 times faster and more secure than traditional radio-frequency-based technologies.

In November 2024, Lithuanian company Sensmetry was announced as one of four winning companies of ESA’s European–Japanese Space Startup Competition.¹⁶ It was recognised for its achievements in developing satellite system software.

During the past couple of years, Lithuania has strengthened its collaboration with ESA. By 2024, the country had participated in up to 30 ESA projects attracting more than €5 million in investment.¹⁷ In 2024, ESA also confirmed eight projects involving Lithuanian companies and research institutions under its Third Country Programme, promising an additional €1 million in funding.¹⁸

Legislative developments

Lithuania continues to ensure its participation in international space law forums.

On 15 May 2024, Lithuania signed the Artemis Accords, becoming the 40th country to sign this agreement.¹⁹ This means that Lithuania has, in principle, committed to ensure that its planned space missions, including the extraction and use of space resources from the Moon, Mars, comets or asteroids, are carried out in accordance with the Outer Space Treaty, and that it promotes safe, sustainable and ethical space activities.

The agreement was signed during the Vilnius Space Days 2024, an annual conference in Vilnius that gathers businesses from Lithuania and abroad to exchange ideas on space-related initiatives.

This is an extract from Lexology In-Depth. Read the full article here.