Law.com Blog Network

About The Bloggers

Blogroll

U.K. Probes Space Tourism Laws

The United Kingdom is getting ready to launch new laws governing space tourism, reports blogger Jesse Londin at Space Law Probe. Picking up on a report by Flight International, Londin explains that if a U.K. space-tourism company -- such as, say, Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic -- is going to launch from U.S. spaceports, international space treaties would require it to have the approval of the British National Space Centre. Londin, citing the Flight International report, continues:

"To formulate a regime for licensing UK companies' space tourism activities, ... BNSC will be looking at proposals over the next few months and asking 'stakeholders, which could be space law firms, insurance companies and relevant government departments, their views on space tourism for the manned suborbital flight licensing system it thinks it will need under the UK's Outer Space Act, which became law in 1986.'"

Londin goes on to suggest that the space business could be a good one for the U.K. She notes that U.K. Science Minister Lord Sainsbury, in a speech this month at the Parliamentary Space Committee Summer Reception, reported that the U.K.'s share over the worldwide space market was 7.3 percent. "These figures demonstrate very clearly that the case for space is an excellent one," he said.

Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on June 30, 2006 at 04:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Comments

 
 
 
About ALM  |  About Law.com  |  Customer Support  |  Privacy Policy  |  Terms & Conditions