Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Thursday providing additional liability protections for public and private space companies like Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. Presidential hopeful DeSantis signed the bill one day after announcing his candidacy on a Twitter Spaces session hosted by Musk.
DeSantis approved CS/SB 1318 — Spaceflight Entity Liability and 27 other bills Thursday. The law provides liability immunity to a spaceflight entity "for an injury or death of spaceflight participant or crew resulting from a spaceflight activity," under certain circumstances. The bill requires space companies provide a warning statement for crew members to sign.
The statute defines a spaceflight entity as a "public or private entity holding a United States Federal Aviation Administration launch, reentry, operator, or launch site license for spaceflight activities or which is otherwise authorized by the United States Government to conduct spaceflight activities." It also includes manufacturers of spaceflight components, services or vehicles.
The law defines spaceflight activities as any launch or reentry service, and any activities occurring between launch and landing. The bill goes into effect on July 1.
Risk Warnings
Per the bill, participants and crew members must sign a warning statement. At a minimum, the consent form must include this text: "Warning: Under Florida law, there is no liability for an injury to or death of a participant or crew in a spaceflight activity provided by a spaceflight entity if such injury or death results from the spaceflight activity. Injuries caused by spaceflight activities may include, among others, injury to land, equipment, persons, and animals, as well as the potential for you to act in a negligent manner that may contribute to your injury or death. You are assuming the risk of participating in this spaceflight activity."
The new law included a few caveats for space companies, such as acts of omission that constitute gross negligence or willful disregard for safety. Companies are also liable if they intentionally injure crew members or have "actual knowledge of an extraordinarily dangerous condition that is not inherent in spaceflight activities."
Florida's Flight History
North Carolina may have been the "First In Flight" but the Sunshine State propelled the United States to the stars. Cape Canaveral was the main launch site throughout the space race and home to history-making moments, from the first U.S. satellite launch to the lunar landing.
Today, more than 17,144 aerospace-related companies reside in Florida and contribute more than $19 billion in revenue to the state's economy, according to Florida's Aerospace and Spaceport Development Authority.
SpaceX Shield
The bill provides further protections for Tesla CEO Musk and Amazon.com founder Bezos as billionaires compete in their own private space race.
Last August, Musk announced SpaceX planned 100 orbital flights in 2023. The total would represent a 64% jump from the 61 missions last year. On average, SpaceX launched every 6 days from one of its three test sites in 2022. The company says its Falcon 9 rocket holds the record for most launches of a single vehicle type in a year.
Globally, 180 launches reached orbit in 2022 compared to 86 missions five years prior, the Wall Street Journal reported.
SpaceX launched 38 missions so far in 2023 according to the website. On April 20 the company's huge new Starship rocket exploded minutes after takeoff due to an engine malfunction. Musk and SpaceX executives hailed the test as a success. They said it completed its main objective of getting the vehicle off the ground and providing data to advance development.
However, the blast destroyed the launchpad at the Boca Chica, Texas, spaceport and spread particulate matter and debris for miles. The FAA grounded the SpaceX Starship Super Heavy launch program pending a standard mishap investigation.
SpaceX announced on Wednesday its next Falcon 9 satellite launch will be Friday, May 26, from the SLC-40 site in Florida.
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