Res Communis

AIAA Space 2009: Coping with Law and Policy

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

The Coping with Law an Policy session at the AIAA’s Space 2009 was held this afternoon in sunny Pasadena, CA:

Session 118-HS-9
1530 – 1730 Coping with Law and Policy
Session Chair: Col James D. Rendleman, USAF (Ret.), JD, LLM, Colorado Springs, CO
Space professionals must be familiar with a myriad of legal and policy questions affecting access to the space domain. This session will explore their challenges, solutions and responses, including: What law
and policy changes are being contemplated to assure U.S. access to space? What are the contemplated changes related to space weaponization and to international space cooperation? If there is conflict
involving space systems, how would the law of armed conflict constrain its prosecution? If U.S. systems are attacked, what should be the limits on a response? With regard to commercial space law, how is
current law and policy constraining or encouraging space activity? How should the indemnification approach for U.S. commercial space launch activities evolve?

Moderator: Col James D. Rendleman, USAF (Ret.), JD, LLM, Colorado Springs, CO

Panelists:
P.J. Blount, JD, LLM, Professor, National Center for Remote Sensing, Air, and Space Law, University of Mississippi School of Law, Oxford, MS
Robert Ryals, Colonel, USAF (Ret.), JD, President/CEO, Point B Defense Associates, Colorado Springs, CO
James A. Vedda, PhD, Senior Policy Analyst, Center for Space Policy and Strategy, The Aerospace Corporation, Arlington, VA

The panel started off with a presentation from Dr. James A. Vedda on United States Commercial Space law and policy. He gave a general overview of various United States space policy issues, and then went into a detailed discussion of the space launch indemnification regime in the United States, and made suggestions on how the regime could be reformed to give the U.S. commercial space industry a more level playing field on the world market.

I gave the next presentation which dealt with the law of the use of force and the law of armed conflict in space, which you can download.

Finally, Robert Ryals continued the discussion on conflict in space and space warfare by discussing how the law in such areas interacts with the policy. Specifically, he addressed problems with how the law and policy allows states to respond to cyber-attacks on space assets.