Executive Order or Legislation Seen Maybe Clearing Space Regulatory Haze

An executive order or legislation could make black and white the gray regulatory issues around the Outer Space Treaty and NASA's planetary protection policy and how they apply to nontraditional private-sector space operations, space lawyer Laura Montgomery blogged Tuesday. An executive order would be "a perfect vehicle" for ensuring the FCC, FAA and NOAA don't deny private operators space access through treaty provisions that don't apply and aren't self-executing, or Congress could act similarly, she said.