Mission Authorized

摘要

Companies, in general, aren't fans of additional regulation, particularly anything that would make it harder or more expensive to do business. However, some in the commercial space industry are embracing a concept that would, in effect, provide additional - albeit light - regulation of their activities to avoid bigger questions about their legality. The issue is related to Article 6 of the Outer Space Treaty, the foundation of international space law. That section requires nations to carry out "authorization and continuing supervision" of the space activities of its citizens. In the U.S., that authorization and supervision is done through licensing of commercial activities: by the FAA for launches and reentries, the FCC for communications, and NOAA for remote sensing.