Air and Space Law Commons^™

The Law Of Space Cyber Operations: Gripping Mysteries, Entangled Frontiers, And Security Challenges, Roy Balleste

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

The developments of technologies applicable to cyberspace and outer space offer new opportunities. Each nation, institution, and individual must be involved in the security of cyberspace in order to secure outer space activities, while reinforcing the legitimacy of that commercial process. The stories that follow consider the intersection of outer space law and cybersecurity, describing vulnerabilities and the limitations of implementing international norms. The article assesses the cyberthreat landscape while offering recommendations. The article's subsequent sections are organized as follows: Part II, The Cruel Sky, considers a historical mystery to better understand the contradictory world of cyber operations. Along the …

Front Matter

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments In Aviation Law, Christine Shang

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

This Article addresses recent developments in aviation law and the aviation field generally over the past year, from early 2021 through early 2022. It does not attempt to address every reported aviation case. Instead, this Article focuses on the areas of aviation law that will have significant ramifications for the future. This Article summarizes legal developments, including those related to COVID-19, the 737 MAX, 5G technology, space exploration, and more.

Front Matter

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

The Use Of Law To Address Space Debris Mitigation And Remediation: Looking Through A Science And Technology Lens, Annie Handmer, Steven Freeland

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

Increasingly over the past six decades, space exploration and technology have revolutionized the world we live in. The landscape in outer space has continued to evolve rapidly, presenting new challenges for a much slower moving legal framework as well as for peaceful uses of space more generally. In particular, space debris has emerged as a pressing global threat. In response, states have shifted towards a more informal two-pronged approach to outer space, as reflected by non-binding instruments adopted by the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), along with the development of technologies that aim to …

3d Printing In The Aerospace Industry: Emerging Legal Issues For Counsel And Insurers, Lisa Savitt, Lauren L. Haertlein, Laura Dubois

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

This Article covers the fast-growing use of additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, in the aerospace industry for critical and noncritical parts. The use of this technology raises regulatory and liability issues in the United States and Europe. Insurers of aerospace-related companies must also consider how to plan for the risks involved with the technology and the new entrants in the market who are designing, selling, and distributing additive manufacturing printers. Neither the regulatory bodies in the United States nor Europe have issued regulations aimed at additive manufacturing, as the law is even further behind. This Article informs lawyers …

Remaining Human: How The Airline Deregulation Act Shields Commercial Air Carriers From Legal Liability For Mishandling Human Remains, Abigail A. Lahvis

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 (ADA) deregulated the domestic airline industry. Specifically, the ADA ended the dual administrative system, which allowed the states to regulate intrastate airfare and permitted the federal government’s Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to regulate interstate airfare. The Act also included a broad preemption clause to prevent the states from reimposing economic regulations on air travel. The preemption clause prohibits a “State . . . [from] enact[ing] or enforc[ing] any law, rule, regulation, standard, or other provision having the force and effect of law relating to rates, routes, or services of any air carrier.”

The Supreme …

Mining The Milky Way: How To Bring America’S Extraterrestrial Excursions Back Into Compliance With International Obligations, Braden N. Anderson

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

In November of 2015, the 114th United States Congress enacted the Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of 2015 (Space Act) and, in turn, thrusted the door to outer space mining wide open for Americans. Unfortunately, while the Space Act provided a solution for corporations, it created a dilemma for the United States. As currently enacted, the Space Act directly conflicts with the world’s foundational and most basic framework for international space law: The Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (Outer Space Treaty).

To …

Personal Jurisdiction On The Move, Kirsten M. Castañeda

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

In Ford Motor Co. v. Montana Eighth Judicial District Court, the U.S. Supreme Court clarified the standards for establishing specific personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant in federal court. The Court rejected previous interpretations of specific jurisdiction that required a causal connection between the defendant’s forum contacts and the plaintiff’s alleged facts. This reorientation has had a ripple effect on specific personal jurisdiction inquiries in federal and state courts across the nation, including courts in the Fifth Circuit and Texas. This Article passes through the basics of general jurisdiction en route to a more leisurely exploration of the clarified …

Put Away The Duct Tape And Bring Out The Prosecution: Combating The Unruly Passenger Crisis By Improving Federal Enforcement Procedures, Michael Mccluskey

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

Unruly passengers aboard commercial flights have become a critical issue for consumer airliners, federal agencies, and other key commercial aviation stakeholders. In the past few years, unruly passenger confrontations rose exponentially. Through a patchwork of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulatory fines, civil penalties, and criminal sanctions, there are enforcement measures available to combat unruly passengers. However, this complex mix of regulations and statutes fails to clearly outline which agencies will be responsible for which types of conduct and what the appropriate penalty will be. Not only does this tangle of enforcement measures confuse and hinder prosecution of unruly passengers, it …

Law And Liberty On The Moon, Frans Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

As on Earth, so in outer space . .

Most of those participating in humankind’s venturing into outer space, in particular to the extent of establishing settlements there and thereby providing for a second home for humanity, would hope or even assume that humankind in so doing might be able to avoid the sometimes rather bloody developments that accompanied settlement in far-away territories on Earth. However, at least in the legal area, with a view to its role as providing not only justice and fairness but also predictability and foreseeability, logic dictates that terrestrial laws and experiences of these laws …

Anthropometry Considerations In The Design And Evaluation Of Flight Deck Displays And Controls: Literature Review, Robert Joslin

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The regulatory requirements and guidance for showing compliance with the Federal Aviation Administration anthropometric considerations in aircraft design are widely dispersed in an array of source documents. Consequently, they are difficult for aircraft manufacturers/applicants to identify, interpret, and address thereby extending the time to certify new/modified aircraft and aircraft systems. This literature review is intended to provide a compendium of the anthropometry considerations in the design certification of displays and controls in aircraft flight decks. This document is not a compliance document and the references herein are frequently updated, hence should be verified by the reader.

Mega-Constellations: Disrupting The Space Legal Order, Steven E. Grotch

Emory International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Navigating The Structural Coherence Of Sea Life, Aldo Chircop, Philip Steinberg, Greta Ferloni, Claudio Aporta, Gavin Bridge, Kate Coddington, Stuart Elden, Stephanie C. Kane, Timo Koivurova, Jessica Shadian, Anna Stammler-Gossmann

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Ice breaking by ships can cause irreparable harm to the ecologies and cultures of northern regions. This chapter revolves around a central question: what are the barriers preventing the development of a legal mechanism to limit this act of environmental violence? The chapter suggests that the central barrier is not so much legal as it is ontological: foundational conceptions of space that underpin Western legal institutions are unable to value the form of water, reducing it instead to an ed space that is used for movement or resource extraction. This chapter demonstrates how a consideration of the environmental violence of …

The (Pfas)T And The Furious: Applying Hazardous Waste Management Frameworks To The Global Presence Of Pfas, Maggie Clark

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

International treaties governing transboundary hazardous waste are a result of the theory of sustainable development. These conventions have developed over several decades but still lack authority over one of the biggest waste exporters: the United States. As forever chemicals like GenX become a spotlight for future waste regulation, can these conventions project a framework to apply to the currently unregulated chemical that predominantly travels across the Atlantic Ocean between the Netherlands and the United States? This Article seeks to apply various transboundary waste international laws to the market for GenX, identify problems, and propose solutions.

Customary International Law As A Vessel For Global Accord: The Case Of Customary Rules-Of- The-Road For Governing The Orbital Highways Of Earth, Hjalte Osborn Frandsen

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

In a time where the international community seems unable or unwilling to commit to binding instruments to solve global-governance issues, ranging from climate to cybercrime, increased reliance on customary norms presents a path forward. Using the case of space traffic, this author investigates if and how customary international law can emerge to govern complex transnational issues. The traditional approach to international custom is augmented with perspectives from the broader field of social science to accord for the influence of private actors and technological development on the formation of customary law.

Commercialization of the space sector has unleashed a tremendous proliferation …

Changemakers: Rewards Of The Road Less Traveled: Dylan Collins, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Establishing Commercial Aviation Safety Privilege: Court Precedent Versus Statute, Jason Powell

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

This concept paper evaluates the pros and cons of establishing commercial aviation safety privilege beyond the almost uniquely United States Department of Defense (DoD) legal protection built upon court precedence (stare decisis) as a statutory concept that can apply across all aviation investigations. The protection offered under Title 49 CFR 1114 only applies to the information provided that is not part of the safety investigation and allows full release of interviews that pertain to the investigation, which is further applied in the National Transportation Safety Board Aviation Investigation Manual (2002). The Supreme Court of the United States recognized different privileged …

Use Of Unmanned Aircraft Systems And Regulatory Landscape: Unravelling The Future Challenges In The High Sky, K Kirthan Shenoy, Divya Tyagi

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The individuals on the ground nowadays often observe objects distantly hover over the sky, which raises the question of who might be operating the object or what the object might record. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) or Drones today have quickly penetrated civilian, military, and commercial sectors. The drones or UAS, with the advancement of technology, are now capable of traversing long distances, having long endurance, and having multipurpose functionality. The UAS industry is fast expanding, with trade investment touching the billion-dollar mark in flourishing economies. The advent of the Covid 19 pandemic saw a steep rise in the use of …

Wise Up! Why It’S Time To Dump Reed V. Wiser And Get Real About Third-Party Actions, David Cluxton

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

The Warsaw Convention of 1929 and the Montreal Convention of 1999 (Conventions) are international treaties governing the liability of the air carrier for damage arising during international carriage by air, e.g., passenger death or bodily injury. The foundation for the applicability of these Conventions is the contract of carriage. However, given the nature of the air transport operations and their technological complexity, a given accident can result from several causes attributable to different parties. The plaintiff (e.g., the passenger) may have the option of suing, not only the carrier based on the contract of carriage, but, alternatively, an airframe or …