The private space industry has set up shop in Cape Canaveral in Florida The country is looking for billionaire space entrepreneurs. The Florida House of Representatives has passed a bill that would protect commercial space enterprises from legal liability in the event of injury or death of a crew member.
On Friday, the Senate voted unanimously in favor of A invoice It would give protection to companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin against civil lawsuits related to the welfare of their crewsFlorida politics mentioned. The Spaceflight Entity Liability Bill would exempt space companies “from liability for injury or death of a crew due to spaceflight activities under certain circumstances; require the spaceflight entity to sign a crew specific warning statement,” the bill is reading.
The space industry is moving beyond government-trained astronauts to include a select group of astronauts Civilians jumping on private rockets. “The fear is that the estates of wealthy passengers could make huge claims with hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue because of the passenger’s life being shortened,” says Mark Sundahl, director of the Center for Global Space Law in Cleveland State. university, tell Gizmodo in an email. “The industry is still in its early days and this liability could handicap the industry.”
The bill is effective only if crew members sign a waiver before engaging in spaceflight activities, thus relieving companies of responsibility for crew safety. As a result, the bill “has the potential to reduce the cost of litigation for companies engaged in spaceflight activities,” according to Invoice analysis. However, as Sundal points out, there is “a long history of such concessions for a variety of inherently dangerous activities, but they have not always been enforced by the courts.” Therefore, even with concessions, it may still be up to the individual courts if a lawsuit is filed.
“The idea behind waiver is that thinking adults can decide whether or not to accept the risk,” Sundal said. But this assumes “informed consent”. It is questionable whether a passenger unfamiliar with the technology and history of spaceflight could really be “informed” of the dangers.
The bill does not protect companies that have committed “gross negligence,” if the company knew in advance of dangerous conditions or if the company knowingly attempted to harm a member of the crew involved. Rather, it aims at the “inherent risks” in the spaceflight activity at stake, and if the company is acting with “slight negligence,” according to the bill. But this simple negligence endangers the lives of the crew members. So far, the small batch of private astronauts who have ventured into suborbital or orbital flights have not been harmed as a result of their flight. But spaceflight is inherently dangerous Even space tourists should know the risks they run by embarking on it High-altitude flights.
Do we want to immunize companies from harm caused by negligence? Will this encourage those who do not prioritize safety? Sundel said. “Or is this reasonable protection for an industry still afloat” and at a time when “the operating standards are very vague.”
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