Is the Rocket Supposed to Be Spinning Like This? Informed Consent and the Development of Space Tourism
- Paper number
IAC-06-E6.1.12
- Author
Mr. Nathanael Horsley, IISL, United States
- Year
2006
- Abstract
As widely available space tourism becomes a reality the launch industry will face a new variety of legal issues. Among the most potentially costly issues for new companies offering space tourism services will the risk of damage to passangers. Given that most early space tourists will be quite wealthy, the earliest vehicles risky, and some space tourism companies quite small, the first generations of space tourism companies might be devastated by the liability associated with the loss of even a single passenger carrying vehicle. Laws in the United States hint at the development of one approach to mitigating the risks of launching customers into space. Both U.S. federal statutes and FAA rules require launch providers to inform their customers of the risks associated with space tourism. While this is a good start, it is unclear how this directive will be carried out or how effective informed consent will be in limiting risk for launch providers. After a brief introduction, the present examination will begin with a brief overview of new regulations in the U.S. governing launch providers and the substance of the regulations requiring informed consent for paying space launch participants. The examination will then turn to the general law of informed consent in the U.S. and how it plays out in other industries. The final section will address the question of whether it will be possible to effectively limit the risks of damage to passengers through informed waivers of liability.- Abstract document