Air and Space Law Commons^™

Interstitial Space Law, Melissa (M.J.) Durkee

Scholarship@WashULaw

Conventionally, customary international law is developed through the actions and beliefs of nations. International treaties are interpreted, in part, by assessing how the parties to the treaty behave. This Article observes that these forms of uncodified international law—custom and subsequent treaty practice—are also developed through a nation’s reactions, or failures to react, to acts and beliefs that can be attributed to it. I call this “attributed lawmaking.”

Consider the new commercial space race. Innovators like SpaceX and Blue Origin seek a permissive legal environment. A Cold-War-era treaty does not seem adequately to address contemporary plans for space. The treaty does, …

The Public Trust Doctrine, Outer Space, And The Global Commons: Time To Call Home Et, Hope M. Babcock

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Space exploration is heating up. Governments and private interests are on a fast track to develop technologies to send people and equipment to celestial bodies, like the moon and asteroids, to extract their untapped resources. Near-space is rapidly filling up with public and private satellites, causing electromagnetic interference problems and dangerous space debris from collisions and earlier launches. The absence of a global management system for the private commercial development of outer space resources will allow these near space problems to be exported further into the galaxy. Moreover, without a governing authority or rules controlling entry or limiting despoliation, outer …

Space, The Final Frontier Of Enterprise: Incentivizing Asteroid Mining Under A Revised International Framework, Jack Heise

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note argues that the Outer Space Treaty (the “OST”) should be modified to provide explicit permission for private entities to engage in asteroid mining while maintaining the principles of international peace and cooperation that the treaty espouses as the core of the framework governing outer space. Part I explores the current state of asteroid mining with reference to the current objectives of companies conducting missions in this realm. Part II examines the OST as applied to the enterprise of asteroid mining by private companies. Part III considers the benefits and drawbacks of various regulatory schemes to govern asteroid mining. …

Flight And Federalism: Federal Preemption Of State And Local Drone Laws, Nicholas Cody

Washington Law Review

Small, unmanned aircraft referred to as “drones” are becoming increasingly common in the skies above the United States. Their increasing ubiquity has been driven by the wide variety of industries and tasks to which they can be applied, but it has also drawn the attention of government. Where Amazon.com sees the potential for packages delivered in thirty minutes or less, governments see crowded skies and clumsy pilots, to name only two potential risks associated with the widespread integration of drones into the national airspace. To that end, just as Amazon.com has ambitiously made use of the technology, state and local …

Private Governance Responses To Climate Change: The Case Of Global Civil Aviation, Michael P. Vandenbergh, Daniel J. Metzger

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Article explores how private governance can reduce the climate effects of global civil aviation. The civil aviation sector is a major contributor to climate change, accounting for emissions comparable to a top ten emitting country. National and international governmental bodies have taken important steps to address civil aviation, but the measures adopted to date are widely acknowledged to be inadequate. Civil aviation poses particularly difficult challenges for government climate mitigation efforts. Many civil aviation firms operate globally, emissions often occur outside of national boundaries, nations differ on their respective responsibilities, and demand is growing rapidly. Although promising new technologies …

Essential Air Service: A Lower Rung On The Pilot Shortage Food Chain?, Michael Peck

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

The Essential Air Service (EAS) program, established in 1978 by the federal government as a temporary measure designed to help remote communities cope with the impact of airline deregulation, subsidizes flights to certain destinations that would not otherwise have ready access to commercial air service. The airlines participating in this program fly relatively smaller aircraft and have traditionally hovered at the lower end of the salary scale. Their pilots are, nevertheless, subject to the same flight experience requirements as the major carriers. The national (or perhaps international) pilot shortage has caused some EAS carriers to abruptly terminate service leaving the …

¿De Quién Son La Luna Y Los Demás Cuerpos Celestes?, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

Probablemente esta sea la imagen más conocida de una bandera que se haya hecho nunca: Buzz Aldrin de pie junto a la primera bandera de EE UU clavada en la Luna. Pero para los que conocían la historia universal, también saltaron las alarmas. En la Tierra, hace menos de un siglo, clavar una bandera nacional en otra parte del mundo todavía equivalía a reclamar ese territorio. ¿Las barras y estrellas en la Luna significaron la creación de una colonia estadounidense?

Cuando la gente escucha por primera vez que soy un abogado que ejerce y enseña algo llamado «derecho espacial», la …

Who Owns The Moon? A Space Lawyer Answers, Frans Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

Most likely, this is the best-known picture of a flag ever taken: Buzz Aldrin standing next to the first U.S. flag planted on the Moon. For those who knew their world history, it also rang some alarm bells. Only less than a century ago, back on Earth, planting a national flag in another part of the world still amounted to claiming that territory for the fatherland. Did the Stars and Stripes on the moon signify the establishment of an American colony?

When people hear for the first time that I am a lawyer practicing and teaching something called “space law,” …

U.S. Government Aviation Safety Information Resources, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Presentation covering U.S. Government aviation safety information resources. Topics addressed include U.S. laws,legislation, regulations, court cases, information resources from agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration, Transportation Security Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, congressional aviation oversight committees and congressional support agencies including the Congressional Budget Office, Congressional Research Service, and Government Accountability Office.

Rivals In Arms: Sino-U.S. Cooperation, Problems, And Solutions And Their Impact On The International Uav Industry, Bei-Er Cheok

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Research and development into drone technology has exploded in the United States in the recent decades. From the operation of killer drones in the military to agricultural survey drones in farms, the proliferation of drone technology is well on its way to radically altering the American future. However, there remains numerous laws, policies, and regulations that place stifling restrictions on drone development and operations in America. Halfway across the world, China has also begun to experience the "drone revolution," but with its relatively laxer laws regarding both commercial and public drone operations and manufacturing, it seems poised to surpass the …

The Fault Is Not In Our Stars: Avoiding An Arms Race In Outer Space, David A. Koplow

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The world is on the precipice of a new arms race in outer space, as China, Russia, the United States, and others undertake dramatic new initiatives in anti-satellite weaponry. These accelerated competitive efforts at space control are highly destabilizing because developed societies have come to depend so heavily upon satellite services to support the entire civilian economy and the modern military apparatus; any significant threat or disruption in the availability of space assets would be massively, and possibly permanently, disruptive.

International law regarding outer space developed with remarkable rapidity in the early years of the Space Age, but the process …

Private Property Rights And The Public Interest In Exploration Of Outer Space, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

The impending missions to exploit natural resources of celestial bodies may at some point start interfering with the scientific interests, including those of astrobiology, in these bodies. While the legal status of celestial bodies at the highest level is clear, uncertainty has arisen as to the extent private property rights over such objects or over their resources are legally acceptable, legally impossible, or potentially legal. This also provides for a considerable amount of uncertainty regarding how the legal framework could or may need to be changed to accommodate private interests. The article analyzes the two main international treaties relevant from …

Reimagining Icarus: Ethics, Law And Policy Considerations For Commercial Human Spaceflight, Sara M. Langston

Publications

Commercial human spaceflight presents an area for engaging novel human activity and objectives, to include space exploration, entertainment, transportation and extraterrestrial resource acquisition. The inherent dangers and lack of scientific and medical certainty involved however raise interrelated questions of ethics, bioethics, law and public policy. This is particularly the case with spaceflight participant (SFP) screening, selection, and commercial human spaceflight activities where regulations are currently silent or lacking. In the absence of established law, ethics can play an important role by informing industry standards, policies and best practices. Understanding the fundamental ethical values at stake in the application of new …

The International Legal Implications Of Military Space Operations: Examining The Interplay Between International Humanitarian Law And The Outer Space Legal Regime, Dale Stephens

International Law Studies

In the contemporary period, many military forces rely heavily on space-based assets to conduct operations across a wide spectrum of contexts. Such reliance necessarily exposes a correlative vulnerability that such assets may be degraded or destroyed, especially in a time of armed conflict. However, the legal framework that governs military action in space during a time of armed conflict is not well explored. This article examines the interaction between International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and the Outer Space legal regime. Harmonization of legal regimes is a goal of any reconciliation project, although such harmonization may not always be readily possible. In …

Game Of Drones: Rolling The Dice With Unmanned Aerial Vehicles And Privacy, Rebecca L. Scharf

Utah Law Review

The advances in technology that have resulted in the increase in the prediction as to the number of drones that may soon be in our skies—as many as seven million in 2020 alone—serve as a call to action. It serves as a call to action for those concerned with protecting individuals’ privacy without imprudently inhibiting the ability of law enforcement. It also serves as a call to action for those concerned with the Supreme Court’s Fourth Amendment jurisprudence focusing on the “reasonable expectation of privacy” standard. If the Federal Aviation Administration itself predicted six years ago that there would be …

The Japanese Impact On Global Drone Policy And Law: Why A Laggard United States And Other Nations Should Look To Japan In The Context Of Drone Usage, Kaitlin D. Sheets

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

The global Unmanned Aircraft System, or unmanned aerial systems (UAS) revolution is poised to have an impact across a broad range of industries from agriculture to filmmaking. The United States has taken a difficult and slower path to implementing UAS policy, with Congress essentially mandating the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to take action in 2015. The FAA's 624-page rulebook marks the first attempt of any comprehensive plan to regulate remote-controlled and commercial aircraft activity. Across the globe, Japan, a country with a proven track record in electronics and technology, is outpacing other countries in devising regulations that will increase UAS …

Silent War: Applicability Of The Jus In Bello To Military Space Operations, Kubo Mačák

International Law Studies

There are no molecules of air that could carry sound waves in the vacuum of outer space. Accordingly, space warfare may well become the first type of war whose signature sound would be—silence. But does the law of armed conflict (jus in bello) fall silent in times of Silent War? This article addresses the uncertainty at the heart of this issue. First, it delineates the relevant conceptual framework by examining the factual notion of “military space operations,” and its relationship with the legal concept of “armed conflict,” as well as the overlap between the potentially applicable bodies of …

Hb 1 - Space Flight, Malissa Caroline Barger, Ethan L. Smith

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act limits the civil and criminal liability of a space flight entity for injuries sustained by space flight participants arising from ordinary negligence. The Act defines new terms and provides a statutory waiver form that participants with informed consent must sign. The Act mandates space flight participants sign the waiver before participating in any space flight activity. The Act does not limit the liability of space flight entities for gross negligence or intentional acts, nor does it prevent suits from anyone other than the space flight participant.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Their Use Of Satellite Services And (Space) Law, Frans Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

This chapter represents an effort to identify the components of international space law that apply to the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). It argues that, while other national and international regimes of law apply to UAV activities, international space law is implicated only to the extent that UAV technology relies on satellite services for control and guidance purposes.

Laser Pointers As A Threat To Aviation Safety: The Problem, Current Policies, And Proposed Solutions, Lukas Moffett

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

No abstract provided.