Prometheus Unbound - Proposal for a New Legal Paradigm for Air Law and Space Law: Orbit Law
![handle is hein.journals/jrlsl36 and id is 151 raw text is: PROMETHEUS UNBOUND?
PROPOSAL FOR A NEW LEGAL
PARADIGM FOR AIR LAW AND
SPACE LAW: ORBIT LAW
C. Brandon Halstead*
I. INTRODUCTION'
Despite the common bond of flight shared by both air and
space travel, these two realms of transit are governed by sepa-
rate and distinct legal regimes. Since the late 1950's, the
boundary between where air flight ends and space flight begins
has been much debated, but has yet to be determined. For
flights which occur solely within the airspace atmosphere, avia-
tion law or air law has emerged to govern such travel; should
those flights cross international boundaries or the high seas,
international air law applies. However, missions and vehicles
intended for outer space launches are governed by what can be
collectively referred to as space law.
Two schools of thought have therefore emerged to distin-
guish between airspace and outer space. Although there is no
scientifically-measurable line of demarcation between these two
realms, spatialists wish to establish a clear boundary between
State-sovereign airspace and unencumbered outer space. With
two separate and distinct legal regimes currently in existence
for each region, delimitation and clear establishment of borders
should be accomplished once and for all.
* C. Brandon Halstead, B.S., Psychology, The University of Alabama; J.D., The
University of Alabama School of Law; LL.M., Institute of Air and Space Law, McGill
University; Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General's Corps. The
submissions in this article represent the ideas of the author and do not reflect any offi-
cial position of the U.S. Air Force.
C. Brandon Halstead, Hybrid Hops On (and Over) the Horizon: The Future Has
Arrived, and Requires a New Look at Air and Space Law, 34 ANNALS AIR & SP. L. 775
(2009) [hereinafter Hybrid Hops]. This article takes many of the questions posed in the
Hybrid Hops cite and provides additional details and solutions to the proposals in the
earlier text.
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Prometheus Unbound - Proposal for a New Legal Paradigm for Air Law and Space Law: Orbit Law
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