A tale of two fora: A study of liability limitation and damages for spaceflight participants in two jurisdictions
- Paper number
IAC-11,D6,1,3,x11098
- Author
Ms. Diane Howard, McGill University, United States
- Coauthor
Mr. Stephan Eriksson, Advokaterna Liman & Partners AB, Sweden
- Year
2011
- Abstract
As we get closer to the day when spaceflight participants will be accessing space on a regular and consistent basis, a different potential for accidents, harm to a passenger, increases than that which is already a reality in space activities. Using a commercial suborbital launch involving spaceflight participants for a case study of the effects of an accident, the paper provides a comparative analysis of the effects of damages and liability limitation of hazardous activities in two jurisdictions currently positioned for commercial human spaceflight: Sweden and the US. Issues to be explored include the actual status of the vehicle (space object or aircraft), and which legal regime is implicated – whether space or aviation - from both a spatialist and a functionalist perspective. The paper is written with the intention of providing some guidance to actual commercial space actors as opposed to the legal community.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)