In short: you cannot mortgage a satellite the way you mortgage an aircraft. There is no international register for satellites in force, a satellite cannot be repossessed, and the right to operate it depends on licences that a lender cannot own. So lenders take security over everything around the satellite: the company that owns it, its contracts, its insurance, its cash and its ground stations. The Cape Town Space Protocol was designed to fix this, but fourteen years after adoption it is still not in force.
The Space Protocol: promise and status
The Cape Town Convention created an international registry for interests in aircraft, which is why aircraft finance is so efficient. The Space Assets Protocol, adopted in Berlin in March 2012, would extend the same system to satellites and their components. It needs ten ratifications. UNIDROIT's status list for June 2026 shows it is still not in force: Germany, Burkina Faso, Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe have signed, and Paraguay (2024) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2026) have acceded. No major space-faring state has ratified it, and the satellite industry has been lukewarm, partly over the protocol's limits on remedies for public service satellites.
Until that changes, satellite lenders work with local law security in each relevant country.
The rest of this guide covers the security package lenders actually take, the regulatory approvals needed on enforcement and how to plan for an orderly transfer of a satellite business. It is free with a work email, along with the register downloads and the in-house counsel tools.
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Questions
Is the Cape Town Space Protocol in force?
No. The Space Assets Protocol was adopted in Berlin in 2012 and needs ten ratifications. UNIDROIT's status list for June 2026 shows it is still not in force: a handful of states have signed, and Paraguay (2024) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2026) have acceded.
How do lenders take security over a satellite today?
Mostly indirectly: a pledge over the shares of the company that owns the satellite and holds the licences, plus security over its contracts, insurances, bank accounts, receivables and ground equipment.
Can a lender take control of a satellite on default?
Only with regulatory approval. Transferring control of the operator normally needs consent from the licensing authorities, such as the FCC or Ofcom, and the state of registry keeps responsibility for the satellite under the space treaties.
Sources
- UNIDROIT: status list of the Space Protocol (June 2026)
- UNIDROIT Governing Council: implementation and status of the Space Protocol (2026)
- UNOOSA: Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space (Outer Space Treaty)
General information on public law and market practice as at 28 Oct 2026, not legal advice on any transaction.