Air and Space Law Commons^™

The Ultimate High Ground—U.S. Intersector Cooperation In Outer Space, C. Brandon Halstead

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

Soft Law’S Failure On The Horizon: The International Code Of Conduct For Outer Space Activities, Jack M. Beard

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

On January 11, 2007, the People’s Republic of China conducted a successful test of an anti-satellite weapon against one of its own aging weather satellites that produced a massive cloud of long-lasting orbital debris in space. The test highlighted both the growing possibility that orbital debris may ultimately render space unusable for all activities there and the reality of an increasingly militarized, contested and insecure geopolitical space environment. Largely in response to this incident, and in an effort to enhance the safety, security and sustainability of space activities, the European Union developed a draft “International Code of Conduct for Activities …

Protecting Tribal Skies: Why Indian Tribes Possess The Sovereign Authority To Regulate Tribal Airspace, William M. Haney

American Indian Law Review

Since the advent of human flight, lawmakers in the United States have struggled to keep pace with advancements in aviation technology. Similarly, many doctrines of federal Indian law that govern the exercise of the sovereign powers of Indian tribes in the United States are based on outmoded conceptions of the capabilities and interests of Indian people and tribal governments. For decades, tribal governments have worked to protect their sovereign interests in tribal territory from the effects of aviation activities that occur within tribal airspace. There has been no exploration of tribal airspace issues in the academic community and limited examination …

2015 Commercial Space Industry Snapshot As Seen Through The Eyes Of The International Symposium For Personal And Commercial Spaceflight (Ispcs), Sarah J. Nilsson Esq.

Publications

The International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS) is a nonprofit independently run annual event, that has taken place these past 11 years, whose speakers capture the growth and diversification of the global commercial space industry in the form of short powerful talks. Hence, it was appropriate that a 2015 snapshot of the commercial space industry should look at this body of experience and knowledge. The key developments, the key players and an accurate state of the industry are hereby presented through the eyes of the ISPCS from this past eleventh symposium that spanned two days and was held …

Aviation Law-Air Services Agreement Between The United States And The United Kingdom, Patricia E. Cooper

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Us Space Launch Competitiveness Act Of 2015, Frans Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

On November 25, 2015, President Obama signed into law the US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act (H.R. 2262). This Act encompasses four titles: I. Spurring Private Aerospace Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship (acronym: SPACE), II. Commercial Remote Sensing, III. Office of Space Commerce, and IV. Space Resource Exploration and Utilization.

Title I amends the Commercial Space Launch Act, which comprises the licensing regime for launches, reentries, and launch port activities, including those carrying spaceflight participants on board.

Title II amends the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act, which allowed for the licensing of private commercial satellite remote-sensing operations, and essentially requires the Secretary …

Triumph Of The Space Commons: Addressing The Impending Space Debris Crisis Without An International Treaty, Joseph Kurt

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Newsroom: Logan On Drone Law, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

The Divergent And Evolving Legal Pathways Of Future Space Traffic Management Collaboration, Michael S. Dodge

Space Traffic Management Conference

Collaboration in space traffic management efforts is critical to the successful continued use of the outer space environment, and exploration and utilization of space assets will depend upon structured legal guidance. While STM is notionally evolving at the international level, appropriate attention must also be given to national strategies. This paper will elucidate that extant space traffic management methodologies are developing along two disparate tracks. These pathways, which here are termed the international-collaborative and sectarian methods, are reflective of the needs of the international community and intrastate interests respectively. The paper will attempt to show that in the near-term, these …

Sub-Orbital Spaceflight – An Addition To Our Multi-Modal Transportation System, Scott Haeffelin

Space Traffic Management Conference

The number of commercial spaceflights will be increasing by orders of magnitude over the next several decades. The current volume of space traffic can be managed on a case-by-case basis and there is little impact to the National Airspace System (NAS). This will change as more spaceports become operational, commercial sub-orbital flight companies begin serving their customers and as the cost of these flights begin to decrease. Current regulatory paths seek to allow the flexibility in the regulations for this industry to flourish while also maintaining a high standard of safety. There are, however, many nearsighted and old fashioned assumptions …

Safe Operations Above Fl600, Lt. Col. Stephen Hunter

Space Traffic Management Conference

Safe Operations Above FL600

Abstract

With the increase in likelihood of near-term development of revenue-generating point-to-point suborbital flights and the increase in high-altitude-long-endurance commercial operations above FL600, the criticality of addressing operations above class A airspace has never been more pressing. While the Federal Aviation Administration describes the National Airspace System, it doesn’t offer a description that includes a top. Technological, physiological, physical and administrative limitations have relegated most air operations to FL600 and below. As that changes, previous work on Space Traffic Management (STM) concepts begin to take on new life and add to sincere considerations for adaptation or …

Regulating Drones Under The First And Fourth Amendments, Marc Jonathan Blitz, James Grimsley, Stephen E. Henderson, Joseph Thai

William & Mary Law Review

The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 requires the Federal Aviation Administration to integrate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, into the national airspace system by September 2015. Yet perhaps because of their chilling accuracy in targeted killings abroad, perhaps because of an increasing consciousness of diminishing privacy more generally, and perhaps simply because of a fear of the unknown, divergent UAV-restrictive legislation has been proposed in Congress and enacted in a number of states. Given UAV utility and cost-effectiveness over a vast range of tasks, however, widespread commercial use ultimately seems certain. Consequently, it is imperative to understand …

One Centimeter Over My Back Yard: Where Does Federal Preemption Of State Drone Regulation Start?, Henry H. Perritt Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship

The proliferation of cheap civilian drones and their obvious utility for precision agriculture, motion picture and television production, aerial surveying, newsgathering, utility infrastructure inspection, and disaster relief has accelerated the FAA’s sluggish effort to develop a proposal for generally applicable rules and caused it to grant more than 600 “section 333 exemptions” permitting commercial drone flight before its rules are finalized.

Federal preemption in the field of aviation safety regulation is generally assumed, but political pressure on states and municipalities to regulate drones and the ability of this revolutionary aviation technology to open up space close to the ground for …

Legal Aspects Of Satellite Communications—A Mini Handbook, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

Satellite communications, the most extensive, commercialized, and applications-oriented of outer space activities, is not a sector ruled by a single, coherent legal regime even at the international level. Already at present at least ten regimes would potentially or actually impact any particular satellite operation, service, or scenario. The current contribution, intended as a “mini-handbook” excerpted from the 2015 Handbook of Space Law published by the present author, addresses only the three generally most important of those regimes: the generic body of international space law, the regime developed in the context of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the trade regime …

Recent Developments In Aerial Hijacking: The Issue Of Liability, Lee S. Kreindler

Akron Law Review

"My part of the program insofar as hijacking is concerned is, as you might expect, the liability part of the program. I have been asked to discuss who is liable, if anybody, in hijacking incidents."

Recent Developments In Aerial Hijacking: The Role Of International Negotiation, Robert P. Boyle

Akron Law Review

I WOULD LIKE TO COMMENT on what Mr. McPherson has said from two different points of view. In the first place, I would like to talk about the development of air law, international air law, through the treaties he has mentioned. I would also like to talk a little bit about the fact that the air law problem is one with a minor exception referred to in the Montreal Sabotage Agreement,' which really takes account of what you do with the hijacker after the hijacking has occurred, and you have him in your clutches. It does not talk too much …

Recent Developments In Aerial Hijacking: An Overview, Ian E. Mcpherson

Akron Law Review

"Although this part of the symposium has been entitled 'Recent Developments in Aerial Hijacking',I feel that it might be useful if we had a brief refresher on the development of the international law relating to this subject."

A Response To Lee Kreindler, Robert P. Boyle

Akron Law Review

"...the claimant does not necessarily suffer all the disadvantages Lee Kreindler notes and that there are real compensatory advantages to the international passenger under the Guatemala Protocol system."

Prefatory Remarks To The International Law Symposium On The Guatemala Protocol And Recent Developments In Aerial Hijacking, Hamilton Desaussure

Akron Law Review

The Am Law Symposium recorded in this edition of the Akron Law Review covers two topics: The Guatemala Protocol of 1971, and Aerial Hijacking. The Guatemala Protocol places a higher limit on liability of air carriers where a passenger on board a scheduled international air flight is killed or injured. Recently a New York judge ruled a hijacking incident an "accident" within the meaning of the Warsaw Convention.' It has also been ruled that mental suffering alone may be compensable under Article 17 of that Convention.

The Federal Tort Claims Act - Absolute Liability, The Discretionary Function Exception, Sonic Booms; Laird V. Nelms, Daniel Wallen

Akron Law Review

[A]lthough the legislative history of the FTCA lends great support for the argument that the doctrine of absolute liability is an acceptable theory to employ to seek recovery under the FTCA, the Supreme Court has chosen to rely on the Dalehite decision and completely overlook later Supreme Court interpretations. The legislative history of the FTCA also indicates that the discretionary function exception must always be confronted, regardless of the theory one proceeds under to seek recovery.