Commercial Flight Pushing Limits of Outer Space
Time to talk about boundaries...
Of the many legal and technical issues surrounding outer space activities, perhaps none is more elusive than defining where outer space begins or, more specifically, the delimitation of where atmospheric flight ends and the lower end of outer space and spaceflight begins. This issue, aside from being a legal issue, is also a political and national security issue that implicates the sovereign rights of nations.
While the debate over the delimitation of outer space is still unresolved, the advent of commercial spaceflight, in particular suborbital flights, may help to clarify the ambiguity and lead to a definition of the delineation of the lower limits of outer space and airspace, if not in law then in practice. To understand the issue it is helpful to be familiar with some of the origins of the issues, in particular with the United States, as well as its present status within the scope of national sovereignty and security.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?