Private Law Aspects of Suborbital Flights: Second- and Third-party Liability and Insurance

Two companies carried private citizens to the edge of space in July 2021. Although suborbital flights have so far taken place within one jurisdiction—they start and end in the same state, do not pass through foreign airspace, or meet both criteria—they will become international when transportation between two points in different states via outer space becomes a reality. International law is ambiguous about the regulation of suborbital flights; neither international air law nor international space law explicitly apply. It is also unclear which organization or institution should be mandated with the international regulation of suborbital flights. The legal uncertainties must be solved to ensure a safe environment and a healthy industry. The characterization of suborbital flights as either aviation or spaceflight has important consequences, such as whether it concerns aspects of public law (e.g., safety) or private law (e.g., second- and third- party liability and insurance). This Article focuses on the latter—the private law issues of second- and third-party liability insurance against such liability in the fields of both air and space law, illustrating the differences between the two and underlining the need for a solution. When taking place within one jurisdiction, suborbital flights operating within a state’s territory are properly subject to state regulation through national law, as this would purely be a national activity falling within a state’s sovereign jurisdiction. Thus, states could decide to consider this activity as either aviation or spaceflight and apply air or space law accordingly. This may, however, lead to fragmentation and legal uncertainty. When flights become international by crossing borders on Earth, international agreement about what law should govern suborbital flights becomes critical and should be developed in close cooperation between the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS). A new sui generis regime will likely borrow from both air and space law and insurance practices. Until such a regime under international law is adopted, national law will govern these issues. The only available model is U.S. law, which seems suitable for the short- to medium-term until an international regime emerges and the industry matures. This Article will analyze current regimes and formulate recommendations for the way forward. Pursuant to that analysis, this Article concludes that a new international agreement on the operation of suborbital flights is required. For the time being, national law, harmonized to the maximum extent, should provide a solution. The Article further aims to identify relevant points for the establishment of national legislation and, in the longer term, an international agreement. Whether or not this will take the form of a legally binding instrument remains to be seen, although the latter seems more realistic in the current geopolitical context

Recent developments in EU space policy and law

Sovereignty, International Governance and Global Value

Space law and the satellite collision of 10 February 2009

Sovereignty, International Governance and Global Value

Liability and Insurance for Suborbital Flights

Sovereignty, International Governance and Global Value

Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty and Private Human Access to Space

Sovereignty, International Governance and Global Value

Legal principles governing the exploration and use of outer space in times of peace and war

FDR Sovereignty, International Governance and Global Values -- ou

Widening the horizons of outer space law

The character of the use and exploration of outer space has changed dramatically since the first artificial satellite was launched in 1957. The question this research addresses is whether the existing international legal framework for space activities adequately regulates current and future challenges and opportunities of the use, exploration and exploitation of outer space, and if not, how this can be remedied. It answers these questions in a series of published articles.Although the legal framework that was adopted by States since the 1960s is of immense value and must be preserved, the rapid pace at which technology advances and the increase and variety of actors in this field imply that it cannot address all challenges and opportunities in a sustainable, safe and secure manner.The existing legal framework must be clarified and supplemented, and the adoption of soft law, guidelines, resolutions at international and regional level, as well as the reinforcement of national frameworks and industry best practices seems the most pragmatic way forward.Outer space is an international realm and in formulating future space law it is essential to strive for a set of common rules of behaviour, including the views and needs of all stakeholders.Exploring the Frontiers of International La

Practical solutions for the regulation of private human sub-orbital flight: a critical analysis

Sovereignty, International Governance and Global Value

The Influence of Direct and Indirect Speech on Mental Representations

Language can be viewed as a set of cues that modulate the comprehender's thought processes. It is a very subtle instrument. For example, the literature suggests that people perceive direct speech (e.g., Joanne said: 'I went out for dinner last night') as more vivid and perceptually engaging than indirect speech (e.g., Joanne said that she went out for dinner last night). But how is this alleged vividness evident in comprehenders' mental representations? We sought to address this question in a series of experiments. Our results do not support the idea that, compared to indirect speech, direct speech enhances the accessibility of information from the communicative or the referential situation during comprehension. Neither do our results support the idea that the hypothesized more vivid experience of direct speech is caused by a switch from the visual to the auditory modality. However, our results do show that direct speech leads to a stronger mental representation of the exact wording of a sentence than does indirect speech. These results show that language has a more subtle influence on memory representations than was previously suggested