{"id":1207,"date":"2018-03-30T10:03:14","date_gmt":"2018-03-30T14:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/?p=1207"},"modified":"2018-03-30T10:03:14","modified_gmt":"2018-03-30T14:03:14","slug":"mercatus-paper-us-regulators-may-not-prevent-private-space-activity-on-the-basis-of-article-vi-of-the-outer-space-treaty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2018\/03\/30\/mercatus-paper-us-regulators-may-not-prevent-private-space-activity-on-the-basis-of-article-vi-of-the-outer-space-treaty\/","title":{"rendered":"Mercatus Paper: US Regulators May Not Prevent Private Space Activity on the Basis of Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Mercatus Center published my legal paper<\/strong><\/a> this week on Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty, complete with an enervating quantity of footnotes.<\/p>\n

Yes, it’s a long title but it has to be precise.\u00a0 After all, U.S. regulators may prevent some types of private space activity. The paper makes the narrow legal point that regulators may not deny private operators access to space for the wrong reason.\u00a0 I have written on this topic here in the past and testified to the Congressional space subcommittees about it.<\/p>\n

From the Mercatus summary:<\/p>\n

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The US government is currently considering what new activities it should and should not regulate in outer space. Examples of new space enterprises include ventures such as satellite servicing, asteroid mining, lunar transport, and orbital habitats. Government discussions are focused on the provisions of the Outer Space Treaty, which was signed in 1967 by the United States, the Soviet Union, and other countries.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, commercial companies face considerable regulatory uncertainty in this area. Particularly significant is the posture of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The agency believes that Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty grants it the authority to deny access to space to any unauthorized and unsupervised entities.<\/p>\n

Article VI declares the following: \u201cThe activities of non-governmental entities in outer space . . . shall require authorization and continuing supervision by the appropriate State Party to the Treaty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laura Montgomery shows that, contrary to the FAA\u2019s claim, Article VI should not be viewed as a barrier to private entities seeking to operate in outer space.<\/p>\n

Montgomery bases her analysis on two main points:<\/p>\n