Air and Space Law Commons^™

Solving The Space Debris Crisis, Paul B. Larsen

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

Space debris is a growing public safety problem. As described by the Kessler Syndrome, the increasing accumulation of debris will soon hinder and eventually preclude access to outer space unless the trend is swiftly reversed. The Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee’s (IADC) Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines, as adopted by the United Nations (UN) Committee for the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), are voluntary but are enforced as mandatory regulations by major space powers; however, the guidelines only apply to new debris. The European Space Agency’s (ESA) 2017 Space Debris Conference concluded that existing space debris guidelines are inadequate and …

Welcome To The Jungle: The Application Of Foreign Law In Aircraft Accident Litigation, Bryan S. David

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

Ordinarily, all legally significant aspects pertaining to a lawsuit emanate from a single state (usually the state where the lawsuit was filed), and the court assigned to the lawsuit decides the case based strictly upon the laws of that state. However, by its very nature, aircraft accident litigation often arises from factual scenarios involving people and aircraft emanating from multiple states and even multiple nations. And those scenarios often raise questions regarding which law will apply. The body of law known alternatively as “conflict of laws” or “choice of laws” was specially designed to answer those questions.

However, over the …

Minimum International Norms For Managing Space Traffic, Space Debris, And Near Earth Object Impacts, Paul B. Larsen

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

Asteroid Mining: International And National Legal Aspects, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

1. Introduction; Asteroid Mining and the Law … 2. The International Legal Context for Asteroid Mining—The Outer Space Treaty … 3. The International Legal Context for Asteroid Mining—The Moon Agreement … 4. Back to the Outer Space Treaty: Interpreting the Nonappropriation Prohibition … 5. Unilateral Action: Title IV, U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act … 6. Concluding Remarks

Asteroid mining is one of the hot topics today not only within the space arena at large but also in the more specific domain of space law, comprising “every legal or regulatory regime having a significant impact, even if implicitly or indirectly, …

Some Remarks Further To "Outer Space And International Geography: Article Ii And The Shape Of Global Order" By P. J. Blount, Frans Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

Introduction ... The Key Role of Article II of the Outer Space Treaty ... Article II of the Outer Space Treaty and the Commercialization of Outer Space ... Space Mining: The Need for an Update of the Legal Framework ... Updating the Existing Legal Framework: Some Further Thoughts ... Concluding Remarks

The European Union And Space—Space For Competition?, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

From the inception of European integration, a regime trying to regulate and arrange competition as much as considered necessary for the benefit of society at large has been one of the core elements of the European Union’s legal order. While the European Union has over the past few decades become more and more involved in the European space effort, this has so far hardly given rise to fundamental application of this competition regime to space activities, even if space also in Europe increasingly has become commercialized and privatized. The current paper investigates the reasons and rationale for this special situation, …

Navigating The Federal Sentencing Guidelines: Considerations Of Equitable Impact After United States V. Trinidad, Jonathan Petree

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

A Cure From Rome For Montreal’S Illness: Article 5 Of The Rome I Regulation And Filling The Void In The 1999 Montreal Convention’S Regulation Of Carrier’S Liability For Personal Injury, Yehya I. Ibrahim Badr

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

An examination of the 1999 Montreal Convention shows that the drafters did not intend to lay down a comprehensive treaty that would organize a carrier’s liability for personal injury to passengers. They opted to achieve a certain level of uniformity through enacting a set of rules that tackled several key issues such as the grounds for a carrier’s liability, the available defenses, and the limits on the recoverable damages. Consequently, some unaddressed issues created a void in the Montreal Convention and were then left without a clear remedy. In this article, a distinction is made between two types of voids: …

A Tale Of Two Sovereigns: Federal And State Use And Regulation Of Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Laura K. Donohue

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Despite claims to the contrary, the federal government is severely limited in what it can do to regulate unmanned aircraft systems (UASs). States, on the other hand, as governments of general jurisdiction, have expansive powers that they are already using to grapple with the questions posed by UAS related to privacy, crime, and public safety. This chapter outlines the evolution of federal measures, noting their limitations, before delving into three categories of state law, related to law enforcement, criminal measures, and regulatory regimes. The chapter then turns to the history of state sovereignty, looking at states’ jurisdiction over persons and …

That Was Close! Reward Reporting Of Cybersecurity “Near Misses”, Jonathan Bair, Steven M. Bellovin, Andrew Manley, Blake Reid, Adam Shostak

Publications

Building, deploying, and maintaining systems with sufficient cybersecurity is challenging. Faster improvement would be valuable to society as a whole. Are we doing as much as we can to improve? We examine robust and long-standing systems for learning from near misses in aviation, and propose the creation of a Cyber Safety Reporting System (CSRS).

To support this argument, we examine the liability concerns which inhibit learning, including both civil and regulatory liability. We look to the way in which cybersecurity engineering and science is done today, and propose that a small amount of ‘policy entrepreneurship’ could have substantial positive impact. …

Front Matter

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

Regulatory Schizophrenia: Mergers, Alliances, Metal-Neutral Joint Ventures And The Emergence Of A Global Aviation Cartel, Paul S. Dempsey

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

As The Grapefruit Turns Sixty, It’S Time To Get Serious About Clean Up In Outer Space, Humaid Alshamsi, Roy Balleste, Michelle L. D. Hanlon

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

The ability to physically interact with an on-orbit object is an idea that has been stymied by its great cost. Yet the rewards are incalculable. Autonomous on-orbit servicing (OOS) vehicles can potentially repair or salvage an ailing satellite or remove it from orbit. The former can help recoup the considerable investment that goes into the development and construction of a satellite, and the latter would reduce space debris. In short, the development of OOS should be promoted. This paper will explore the legal ramifications and complications of unmanned on-orbit servicing missions. After reviewing the international framework and the current state …

Unmaking A National Space Legislation For India: Indigenizing Space Law Through The “Organic Science” Of The Indian Space Program, S. G. Sreejith

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

War And (Labor) Peace: How The Ninth Circuit Changed The Rules Of Engagement For Service Providers And Organized Labor, Klayton Sweitzer Hiland

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

Tax Reform Up In The Air: Redefining The Test For Qualification Of An Air Carrier For Sales Tax Exemption, Daniel W. Sepulveda

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

Presuming Patent Inventorship Without Further Examination: A Double-Edged Sword For Aerospace Companies, Jake Winslett

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments In Aviation Law, Justin V. Lee

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

Event Horizon: Examining Military And Weaponization Issues In Space By Utilizing The Outer Space Treaty And The Law Of Armed Conflict, Ryan M. Esparza

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

This article takes the position that any lingering ambiguities surrounding the militarization and weaponization of outer space should be analyzed via the joint scope of the Outer Space Treaty and the Law of Armed Conflict. This article pulls key provisions from Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions because of Additional Protocol I’s application in international conflicts and affirmation of the four Geneva Conventions. After an examination of key Additional Protocol I provisions and their application to space, this article conducts a joint analysis of the Outer Space Treaty and the Law of Armed Conflict. This joint analysis examines three …