Air and Space Law Commons^™

Falling Stars And Sinking Ships: How Article Vii Of The Outer Space Treaty Needs Maritime Law, Mckenzie Franck

Pace International Law Review

The urge to go where no man has gone before has led to great leaps in space technology that only seemed real in cinema. As more private companies, such as private asteroid mining companies in China, attempt to take this leap, it has become clear that there are significant gaps in international space law regarding liability with private parties. Within Article VII of the Outer Space Treaty, there is a laid-out structure on how states can be held liable for damages caused by celestial bodies. However, the Outer Space Treaty ignores what happens if a private company causes injuries in …

Romano Named A Rumsfeld Graduate Fellow, James Owsley Boyd

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

James Romano’s interests are out of this world. The 2L at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law is intrigued by the futuristic sounding concept of space law, but is quick to note that there’s nothing futuristic about it.

“More private companies are rapidly entering space,” Romano said, “and I’m deeply interested in the question of ‘What does the future of space look like?’”

While Romano’s focus may be directed upward, his trajectory on Earth is quickly ascending.

Romano is one of 14 scholars selected as a Rumsfeld Foundation Graduate Fellow for 2023-24. The fellowships, named in honor of the …

Delta Airlines – A Carbon Neutrality Pact To 2050 And Beyond A Public Policy White Paper, Drew P. Lemon

The Gettysburg Journal for Public Policy

As part of a new global climate initiative, the United States very one Atlanta based Delta Airlines has recently announced to the world they will be embarking on an initiative to provide a never-before-seen technique of air travel; Completely carbon-neutral air transport and net-zero carbon emissions across all operational sectors of their fleet by 2050. Delta Airlines has now become the first official United States-based airline to promise net-zero carbon flying to the entire public within the next few decades, and the airline is set on being the catalyst in generating positive change for the United States aviation industry and …

Touring Outer Space: The Past, Present, And Future Of Space Tourism, Alex S. Li

Cleveland State Law Review

For the space tourism industry, 2021 represented a giant leap forward: three different privately-developed commercial spacecrafts made their tourism debut. With space tourism launching to new heights, several legal issues surrounding this sector can no longer be ignored. The emerging industry is also raising new policy considerations. This Article fills this void by examining the pressing legal and policy issues that surround space tourism’s coming-of-age.

The Article begins by looking at space tourism’s past. It chronicles the companies, the missions, and the passengers that have formed the industry’s foundation so far. The Article then shifts to space tourism’s present. It …

Indo-Pacific Conflicts Will Be Reimagined In Outer Space Exploration, Michael Incorvaia

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental & Innovation Law

This article will focus on the effects of international treaties and how they can be utilized to govern the future of outer space exploration. The discussion will include evaluating how modern changes in technology have created a need for updated outer space-specific treaties to ensure that outer space does not become a contentious zone between countries. This article will begin by exploring the developments in outer space that have created a new space race. Then, it will discuss the Indo-Pacific conflict and why the current multilateral treaty strategy that is used in the region will not be effective in outer …

Markets, Regulation, And Inevitability: The Case For Property Rights In Outer Space, Eliot T. Tracz

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

In 1967, a number of countries—including the United States— entered into the Outer Space Treaty. This treaty established the fundamental rules by which countries are to conduct themselves in outer space. At the time, there was more concern about the possibility of the Cold War, and thus nuclear weaponry, extending into space and very little consideration of commercial activity, which was largely the province of Science Fiction. Today, commercialization of space includes satellites, private companies contracting for government work, space tourism, and the early stages of testing materials for resource extraction. Interestingly, no international system for the recognition of property …

Drones Across The World: Laws And Policies, Sarah Nilsson

OER Main

Navigating the world’s drone and advanced air mobility laws is a daunting but critical task if you are in the aviation industry. Hence the need to formalize the relevant material and create this eTextbook (webbook). While still copyrighted content, it is freely distributed worldwide under a Creative Commons, non-commercial, and non-derivative license. This webbook is structured the way the United Nations views the globe, in 6 main areas, Northern America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Oceania, Europe, Asia, and Africa. It is easily searchable by country if used as a reference guide. This webbook has an interactive design with hyperlinks, …

Who Is Manning The Ship? The Environmental And Legal Questions Facing The Emerging Commercial Space Tourism Market, Alec Fante

Villanova Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Creating An Urban Airspace Design: The Future Regulatory Landscape, Jason T. Lorenzon

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) are transformative technologies that will revolutionize the manner that cargo and passengers are transported in the local environment. This disruptive technology will transform transportation domain. For instance, imagine a transportation infrastructure without physical roads, where persons, property and cargo are being moved by Autonomously operated Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAS). This presentation/paper will examine the current state of the regulatory and legal environment and the efforts that are being made to facilitate a future that a few short years ago was only imagined in works of science fiction.

This presentation will focus …

Front Matter

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

Vfr Into Imc Through The Lens Of Behavioral Economics, Stephen O'Mahony, Felicity Deane, Kieran Tranter

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

Decision-making can be the difference between life and death in all types of aviation, but in general aviation (GA), where most of the flying is conducted as single-pilot operations, the decision-making of one individual becomes fundamentally important. It is critical to consider, first, why pilots make bad decisions that can ultimately lead to weather-related aviation accidents or incidents; and second, whether a better understanding of weather-related decision-making can inform regulations that will improve decision-making and consequently reduce the frequency of pilot-error accidents.

Behavioral economics (BE) aims to better understand individual decision-making to model decision-making pathways. As individual decision-making is central …

On Launching Environmental Law Into Orbit In The Age Of Satellite Constellations, Michael B. Runnels

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

In September 2022, the Federal Communications Commission adopted a new rule changing the deorbiting timeframe for satellites ending their missions in low Earth orbit from a twenty-five-year recommendation to a five-year legal requirement. The adoption of this rule, which seeks to cultivate a sustainable orbital environment for satellites, followed the United States’ July 2022 National Orbital Debris Implementation Plan, which tasked federal agencies with reviewing the effectiveness of their orbital debris-related rules. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s June 2022 West Virginia v. EPA decision, however, federal rulemaking in the area of orbital debris may not survive judicial scrutiny …

Commentary: Lunar Court Operational And Constitutional Considerations, Megan Sieffert

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

Friendly Skies, Unfriendly Terms: Class Action Waivers And Force Majeure Clauses In Airline Contracts Of Carriage, Grant Glazebrook

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The airline contract of carriage. These unassuming bits of language govern the relationship between passengers and their airlines. Over the past three years, a new term has sprouted in these agreements: the class action waiver. Before March 2020, only two of the ten largest United States-based airlines’ contracts of carriage had class action waivers. But as of April 2023, eight now have class action waivers. Why have airlines quickly adopted these copycat terms? What are the implications of this new contractual trend for flyers, airlines, and regulators? This note aims to contribute to the scholarship around these questions in three …

Ground Risk Model For Uavs, Andrew V. Shelley

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

This paper develops an alternative to the ground risk model provided by JARUS SORA. Key inconsistencies in the SORA ground risk model are identified, specifically ground risk continuing to increase when there is no further increase in fatality probability.

Population density is a critical component of UAS ground risk. Definitions of population density adopted by various regulatory jurisdictions are reviewed. A categorisation of population density is developed based on official statistics categories for New Zealand. This categorisation is more granular than that provided by SORA, enabling a more nuanced assessment of risk.

A ground risk model is then developed using …

The Future Of The Law On The Moon, Andrew Y. Lee

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

Outer space is rapidly becoming the domain for industrial-scale private-sector innovation and entrepreneurship. By developing and maturing the unprecedented technology for vertical landing and partial reuse orbital-class rockets, Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) has reduced the cost of access to orbital space by a staggering factor of magnitude, i.e., to one-tenth the previous rate. SpaceX is now on the cusp of launching its next-generation launch system called Starship to orbit. Starship is designed to be fully and rapidly reusable (land, refuel, and fly like airplanes) and expected to decrease the cost of access to orbital space to a level comparable …

Opening Pandora’S Box: Comparing Airline Passenger Protection In Korea And Europe In Light Of Global Treaties, Pablo Mendes De Leon, Jin Choi

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

Passenger protection will continue to ask for attention. The involved bodies and persons include policymakers and legislators, media, courts, compliance departments of airlines, law firms, consumer protection organizations, and airports. All parties must announce the conditions for such protection on their premises. In 2020, around 50% of all cases in the Netherlands, around 4,000 to 5,000 claims submitted to the lower courts, concerned passenger protection in aviation. In the Republic of Korea (Korea), these numbers are more limited but still significant; that is, around 2,500 claims form the aggregate number presented to Korean courts and Korea’s Consumer Protection Agency.

The …

Commentary For The Journal Of Air Law And Commerce On The Article By Andrew Lee Entitled The Future Of The Law On The Moon, Stephan Hobe

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

From Geopolitics To Lunapolitics: A Response To Lee’S The Future Of The Law On The Moon, Andrea Harrington

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

Flying Towards Extinction: The Role Of The Aviation Industry In Perpetuating International Wildlife Trafficking, Isabelle Dominguez

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

In the past sixty years, the world has developed significant concern for burgeoning environmental issues. Starting in the 1960s, governments, industries, and the public have embraced efforts to set standards for public and private actors in areas of environmental concern. Particularly, increased globalization has led to an increase in the trade of wildlife and its products, including endangered species.

Unregulated wildlife trade implicates various issues, such as conservation concerns, the spread of diseases, and even funding for criminal organizations. While sovereign governments work independently and together to combat wildlife trafficking and its effects, current law leaves significant gaps in the …