Field of law

Space & Satellite Law

Launch and reentry licensing, spectrum and orbital slots, remote sensing licenses, export control on space hardware, debris rules, liability under treaty, and property claims off Earth.

State Liability for a Satellite Under Treaty

A launching state is absolutely liable for damage a space object causes on the surface of the Earth or to aircraft in flight, and liable on proof of fault for damage caused elsewhere to another space object. Four categories of state can be launching states for one object and are jointly and severally liable. Claims are presented through diplomatic channels within a year, and an unresolved claim goes to a commission whose award binds only if the parties agreed in advance.

6 min readTreaty and international

Space & Satellite Law

Registering a Space Object and Why It Matters

A launching state must maintain a national registry of the space objects it launches and must furnish prescribed particulars to the Secretary-General for entry in the United Nations register. The state of registry retains jurisdiction and control over the object and any personnel aboard it, wherever it is. Where several states qualify as launching states they must jointly determine which will register, and no treaty mechanism transfers registration when an object is sold.

6 min readTreaty and international

Space & Satellite Law

Licensing a Launch and a Reentry

No person may launch a launch vehicle or reenter a reentry vehicle from United States territory, and no United States citizen may do so anywhere, without an FAA license or permit. A vehicle operator license issues only after policy, payload, safety, environmental and maximum probable loss determinations are complete. The licensee must then carry liability insurance in the amount the agency calculates and must sign reciprocal waivers of claims.

7 min readFederal law

Space & Satellite Law

Space Resources and the Non-Appropriation Principle

The Outer Space Treaty bars national appropriation of outer space and celestial bodies by claim of sovereignty, by use or occupation, or by any other means, while guaranteeing free exploration and use by all states. Domestic statutes in several countries grant their nationals property rights in resources they recover, while disclaiming sovereignty over any celestial body. No treaty provision addresses extraction directly, and no international regime governs it.

6 min readTreaty and international

Space & Satellite Law

Orbital Debris Mitigation and Post-Mission Disposal

An application for a space station authorization must include an orbital debris mitigation plan covering debris released in normal operations, the probability of accidental explosion, collision risk with large objects, and post-mission disposal. Low Earth orbit spacecraft must be removed from orbit promptly after the mission ends, geostationary spacecraft must be raised into a disposal orbit above the arc, and uncontrolled reentry must satisfy a human casualty risk ceiling.

6 min readFederal law

Space & Satellite Law

Export Control on Space Hardware: Which List Applies

Spacecraft and related articles appear both on the United States Munitions List and on the Commerce Control List. The munitions category captures items with defined military or intelligence characteristics; the remainder falls to the commerce classifications for spacecraft and related commodities. Classification decides the licensing agency, the availability of exceptions, whether foreign-made goods inherit the control, and whether registration is required before any export occurs.

6 min readFederal law

Space & Satellite Law

Spectrum Authorization and the International Filing Chain

A space station transmitting to or from the United States needs a Commission authorization or a market access grant, applied for under the satellite rules and processed either in a first-come queue or in a processing round. Separately, the administration files the network with the International Telecommunication Union, where priority runs from the date of receipt and coordination obligations run against every earlier filing.

6 min readTreaty and international

Space & Satellite Law

Licensing an Earth Station and Where It May Be Built

Transmitting earth stations require an authorization; receive-only stations do not, though registration buys interference protection in shared bands. Applications are streamlined where the antenna meets the off-axis emission limits and are otherwise supported by a coordination showing. In bands shared with terrestrial services, frequency coordination is required, and siting is constrained by environmental, historic preservation, radiofrequency exposure, structure and land use requirements.

6 min readFederal law

Space & Satellite Law

Remote Sensing Licenses and Limits on Imagery

No United States person may operate a private remote sensing space system without a license from the Secretary of Commerce. The rules sort each proposed capability into three tiers according to whether substantially the same unenhanced data is already available from unregulated sources or from other licensees. Tier assignment governs which conditions may be imposed, temporary conditions must be justified and revisited, and a licensee must supply data to sensed states on reasonable terms.

6 min readFederal law

Space & Satellite Law

Payload Review and the Gap in Mission Authorization

The FAA reviews a payload proposed for launch only where no other federal agency licenses it, and the review produces a favorable or unfavorable determination rather than an authorization to operate. Because no statute assigns general authority to authorize and supervise activities in orbit, novel missions are reached indirectly through communications licensing, launch conditions, or interagency pressure, which is the gap in the treaty duty of continuing supervision.

6 min readFederal law

Space & Satellite Law

Commercial Human Spaceflight and Informed Consent

Federal law restrains the FAA from issuing regulations governing the design or operation of a launch vehicle to protect the health and safety of occupants, absent an event or a demonstrated risk that lifts the restraint. In its place the rules require an operator to inform each spaceflight participant in writing of the known hazards, the vehicle's safety record, and the absence of any federal certification, and to obtain written consent before any agreement to fly.

6 min readFederal law

Fields of law

This journal

Space & Satellite Law

State Liability for a Satellite Under Treaty

Registering a Space Object and Why It Matters

Licensing a Launch and a Reentry

Space Resources and the Non-Appropriation Principle

Orbital Debris Mitigation and Post-Mission Disposal

Export Control on Space Hardware: Which List Applies

Spectrum Authorization and the International Filing Chain

Licensing an Earth Station and Where It May Be Built

Remote Sensing Licenses and Limits on Imagery

Payload Review and the Gap in Mission Authorization

Commercial Human Spaceflight and Informed Consent