In a move essential to Florida's efforts to develop an expanded commercial launch industry, the U.S. Senate passed legislation late Wednesday that would extend federal liability protection for commercial space launch providers against catastrophic events. Every time a commercial company launches rocket with any payload, the potential third-party liability is enormous--a rocket could conceivably do billions of dollars worth of damage to infrastructure and people. Under the measure approved by the Senate, the U.S. government would continue for three more years to indemnify commercial launch operators against third-party claims for launch-related damages that exceed $500 million, up to a total of $1.5 billion.
In a move essential to Florida's efforts to develop an expanded commercial launch industry, the U.S. Senate passed legislation late Wednesday that would extend federal liability protection for commercial space launch providers against catastrophic events.
Every time a commercial company launches rocket with any payload, the potential third-party liability is enormous--a rocket could conceivably do billions of dollars worth of damage to infrastructure and people.
Under the measure approved by the Senate, the U.S. government would continue for three more years to indemnify commercial launch operators against third-party claims for launch-related damages that exceed $500 million, up to a total of $1.5 billion.
