What Got Us Here, Won’t Get Us There: Why U.S. Commercial Space Policy Must Lie in an Independent Regulatory Agency

Authors

Gerardo Inzunza Higuera

Abstract

This Note addresses the need for a comprehensive, centralized independent agency designated solely for the management of commercial space activities. The current commercial “space rush” promises unimaginable possibilities and profits for a burgeoning sector, yet no single federal agency has been entrusted with the regulation of this nascent industry. Currently, the United States has settled into an inefficient, fragmented regulatory approach that unduly burdens commercial players and frustrates its national objective of fostering a robust commercial low- Earth orbit economy. This Note analyzes proposals by Congress for such a new regulatory agency and concludes by proposing a new framework that encourages expert-driven commercial space regulations void of political adulteration, while also establishing a regulatory system that can be exported to other spacefaring nations.

Recommended Citation

Gerardo Inzunza Higuera, What Got Us Here, Won’t Get Us There: Why U.S. Commercial Space Policy Must Lie in an Independent Regulatory Agency, 73 Hastings L.J. 105 (2022).
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_law_journal/vol73/iss1/4