Aerospace companies are on the verge of receiving liability protection in the event passengers are harmed or die during space travel.
The Florida Senate approved SB 1318 last week. If approved by the House and signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the measure would create some immunity from personal injury or wrongful death civil lawsuits, according to media reports.
“The state wants to create jobs and so they want to pass this legislation to attract employers and attract those aerospace companies to fly from Florida,” said Mark J. Sundahl, professor of law and director of the Global Space Law Center at Cleveland State University College of Law. “They do that by giving them this honey of limited liability.”
Space companies Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are expected to benefit.
"This legislation is aimed at suborbital space flight participants, which SpaceX doesn't do," Sundahl said. "SpaceX does orbital and lunar. This bill is part of the drive to attract the suborbital space flight industry, not SpaceX."
Orbital is more advanced than suborbital space travel, according to Sundahl.
"There's really no comparing the two," he said. "SpaceX is flying much more powerful rockets, and soon they'll only be flying the Starship. They won't even be flying the Falcon anymore. It's a totally different type of vehicle."
The proposed Spaceflight Entity Liability defines the term ‘crew,’ exempts a spaceflight entity from liability for injury or the death of a crew member that results from spaceflight activities and requires a spaceflight to have crew members sign a specified warning statement.
However, whether the waivers will be enforced by a court under the law remains to be seen.
“The question arises whether a lay person really understands the risks, the nature of space flight, flying into the void, all the mechanical challenges, the things that can go wrong, and the severity of it,” Sundahl told the Florida Record. “That would be one of the arguments that will be made by the lawyers representing the estates of the deceased.”
The immunity, however, has limits.
Florida Politics reported there would be no liability protection in the event of gross negligence, known dangerous conditions, or if a crew member were to be intentionally harmed.
“Because there will be high-value people who will be killed in the accident when an accident happens, and their estate is going to sue the space companies for millions, we will see whether it works or whether it holds up in court,” Sundahl said in an interview.