Space Law: An Overview, Past, Present, and Future

This course will cover the U.S. domestic regulatory environment, reviewing the legal authority and regulatory requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Communications Commission, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration over space transportation, satellite communications, and remote sensing from space.  The course will also review three trending issues in space law that arise out of the Outer Space Treaty and that may affect interstellar operations:  property rights, the regulation of new activities, and “planetary protection.” An interactive session at the end of the seminar will allow for an opportunity to comment and ask questions.

Instructor

Laura Montgomery teaches space law at Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law. In her private practice she specializes in regulatory space law, with an emphasis on commercial space transportation and the Outer Space Treaties.

In 2017, she testified to the Space Subcommittee of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation’s Space Subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness on matters of regulation and international obligation. She has published articles on the Outer Space Treaty, human space flight, and launch safety, and writes and edits the space law blog GroundBasedSpaceMatters.com.

Ms. Montgomery spent over two decades with the Federal Aviation Administration supporting the FAA in its authorization and regulation of launch, reentry, and the operation of launch and reentry sites. She received her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and her undergraduate degree with honors from the University of Virginia. She also writes science fiction, which ranges from space opera to bourgeois, legal science fiction. Her author site is at www.lauramontgomery.com.