Law Commons^™

Access To Space: The Future Of U.S. Space Transportation Systems, U.S. Congress, Office Of Technology Assessment

Space Law Documents

The United States today possesses a capable fleet of cargo and crew-carrying launch systems, managed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Defense, and the private sector. Emerging technologies offer the promise, by the turn of the century, of new launch systems that may reduce cost while increasing performance, reliability, and operability~__···· . Continued exploration and exploitation of space will depend on a fleet of versatile and reliable launch vehicles. Yet, uncertainty about the nature of U.S. space program goals and the schedule for achieving them, as well as the stubbornly high cost of space transportation, makes …

Affordable Spacecraft: Design And Launch Alternatives, U.S. Congress, Office Of Technology Assessment

Space Law Documents

Several major DOD and NASA programs are seeking ways to reduce the costs of launching spacecraft. However, it typically costs much, much more to build a spacecraft than to launch it into a low orbit. Therefore, unless the costs of building spacecraft are reduced, even dramatic reductions in costs of launching to low orbit would reduce total spacecraft program costs by only a few percent. This background paper examines several proposals for reducing the costs of spacecraft and other payloads and describes launch systems for implementing them. It is one of a series of products of a broad assessment of …

Law And Practice - European National Space Agencies Under International Space Law, Frans Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

The legal place and role of national space agencies in general has not yet been the subject of much debate. This paper tries to argue however that this problem is of some relevance indeed. Concurrently with debating it namely, by concentrating on the case of some European agencies the problems of defining a "national space agency" and of the relevance of such definitions as to such a place and role will be answered to some extent.

Thus, Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty is seen as providing for a subdivision of space agencies in 'governmental agencies' and 'nongovernmental entities.' …