Dallas Shareholder Steven Bartz authored the article “In the Heavens as It Is on Earth: Embracing Federalism to Supervise and Promote U.S. Non-Governmental Entities’ Non-National Activities in Outer Space,” published in the Journal of Air Law and Commerce.
The article examines how space law’s state‑centric origins strain under the rapid growth of U.S. commercial space activity and proposes federalism as a solution. As commercial space activities expand exponentially in frequency, complexity, and economic significance, the U.S. faces both a compliance challenge (i.e., keeping its Outer Space Treaty Article VI implementation current) and a strategic challenge (i.e., avoiding being locked into less liberty‑protective foreign interpretations of its treaty obligations). The article argues that the U.S. should leverage its constitutional structure to address these challenges: U.S. federal law would continue to implement obligations with more directly international and interstate implications (including launch licensing, remote sensing, spectrum, export controls, and national security), while the fifty respective U.S. states would provide the familiar, innovation‑driving ecosystem of private law (property, contract, corporate, and related doctrines) for NGEs’ non-national activities in outer space. By consciously extending American federalism beyond Earth’s surface—using states as “laboratories of democracy” for space private-law regimes while preserving federal control over more direct international and interstate responsibilities—the article argues that the U.S. can better satisfy its treaty obligations, unleash capital formation and commercial experimentation, and secure a durable competitive advantage in the new space race.
The views expressed in the linked article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Greenberg Traurig, LLP, its attorneys, or its clients. This article is strictly informational and academic in nature and does not constitute legal advice.
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