Space Law Then, Now, and in the Future: a Conversation with Pamela Meredith and Laura Montgomery
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Space Law Then, Now, and in the Future: A Conversation with Pamela Meredith and Laura Montgomery he Air & Space Lawyer recently hosted a roundta- A&SL: Laura, please tell us about your background Tble conversation with two and how you came to be a space lawyer. of the nation’s leading space law Laura Montgomery (LM): I started reading science practitioners, Pamela Meredith fiction at age 13, but do not have a STEM brain, so I and Laura Montgomery. Ms. Mer- decided that law was for me. I was interested in space edith is Chair of the Space Law law from the start. I was fortunate to join a law firm here Practice Group at Zuckert, Scoutt in Washington, D.C., that did satellite work and also han- & Rasenberger L.L.P. in Washing- dled black lung cases. Both of those areas of practice ton, D.C.; she also is an adjunct involved administrative law, which has been extremely professor of satellite communica- useful given the regulatory nature of space law. When I tions and space law at American University’s Washington interviewed for a position at the Department of Trans- College of Law. Ms. Montgomery is an attorney and the portation, I believe that I got the job because after my proprietor of Ground Based Space Matters, a space- interview I visited the National Air and Space Museum focused consulting and law firm; she also is an adjunct and touched the Moon rock for good luck. It worked. professor of space law at Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law. She spent over two decades with the Fed- A&SL: Who were some of the individuals who eral Aviation Administration (FAA), where she served as influenced and shaped your career? the manager of the Space Law Branch in the FAA’s Office LM: Robert Heinlein, the science fiction author, influ- of the Chief Counsel. Their interlocutors were Jeff Klang, enced many engineers and space specialists, including Senior Counselor for the FAA’s International Office and me. When I started in legal practice, Laura Klaus was a member of the editorial board of The Air & Space Law- a very meticulous legal practitioner who taught me yer; and Taria Barron, Attorney Advisor at the Consumer to focus on text and language and that each word Financial Protection Bureau and a former attorney in the has significance, which was influential in terms of the FAA’s Office of the Chief Counsel. The meeting, appro- development of my legal and analytical skills. I subse- priately for a discussion about space law, occurred at the quently joined the FAA and worked with Patti Grace FAA’s offices at 600 Independence Avenue, which used to Smith, who recently passed. Although she was not a be NASA’s headquarters. The following is an edited and lawyer, I learned a lot about leadership from her. She condensed version of the conversation. was a shining example of that: an incredibly savvy woman blessed with great instincts and common sense. A&SL: Pamela, please tell us about your background and how you came to practice in the area of space law. A&SL: Pamela, who were your biggest influences? Pamela Meredith (PM): I attended law school in PM: My first introduction to space law occurred in the my home country of Norway, then moved to Montreal 1970s when my international law professor in Norway where I received a master’s degree in air and space law took me to an international law conference in Belgrade at McGill University’s Institute of Air & Space Law in the in the former Yugoslavia, where I met the leaders of early 1980s. During the last semester, I visited Washing- McGill University’s Institute of Air & Space Law. Martine ton, D.C., to research a thesis paper. I remember that Rothblatt, who had left another Washington, D.C., firm when I arrived it was a gorgeous day in May and the city in 1982 to start a space law practice, offered me my first looked beautiful. I decided that this is the place where job and was a great mentor and influence on my career. I wanted to be. I was fortunate to get a job here with a Finally, Dr. George Robinson, who was Associate General small firm working with a space law practitioner, and Counsel at the Smithsonian, was also a great influence. that started my career in practice as a space lawyer. He had been at NASA and had a strong interest in space law. We authored a book together, Space Law: A Case A&SL: In addition to being a space law practitio- Study for the Practitioner, in the 1990s. ner, you are a law professor. PM: Yes, and in fact, Jeff (Klang), you were my stu- A&SL: Laura, what were the big issues in space dent in the spring semester of 1989. That was the first law 20 years ago? course I taught at American University’s law school, LM: During the 1990s, there was intense inter- and I’ve been teaching space law there ever since. est in space launch vehicles and rockets, with many Published in The Air & Space Lawyer, Volume 30, Number 4, 2017. © 2017 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association. companies seeking to send up satellite constella- commercialized in the mid-1980s and again with the Land tions, meaning not just one satellite but a group of Remote Sensing Policy Act in 1992, this became a new them. With geostationary and low Earth orbit satel- and interesting practice area for me. The increased private lites, the launch industry realized that expendable sector involvement in space activities also opened up an launch vehicles (ELVs) could be commercially via- increasing amount of transactional work, and my practice ble. This was also after the Challenger accident, at a shifted in that direction. The breakup of the Soviet Union time when there was no more commercial activity on and the creation of new East-West ventures, such as the the space shuttle, which had forced industry to pivot satellite launch venture Sea Launch, contributed greatly to back to ELVs. The Air Force also was very interested my space law practice. in fostering at least two ELVs so that there would be some competition. ELV companies, meanwhile, A&SL: Moving forward to the twenty-first century were attracted by the prospect of a market where not and through today, what do you view as the signifi- only the government but also commercial satellite cant issues over the past decade plus and currently? operators would be their customers. This created con- PM: The new millennium has seen the introduction of siderable optimism about the industry’s commercial human space flight legislation (2004) and a new statute prospects and led to a significant infusion of capital in endorsing commercial extraction of resources from aster- both satellite operators and the launch industry. oids and the Moon and the ownership of those resources (2015). My work in the area of human spaceflight has A&SL: What was the FAA’s regulatory focus with revolved around risk and liability facing companies that respect to space at that time? contribute hardware to such missions. The big issue LM: For the FAA, it was a time of great regulatory going forward is whether and how to regulate resource activity. We had previously relied so heavily on the Air extraction and other new space activities. Force for safety that the safety standards were rather LM: The concept of space law has evolved from a nontransparent. The FAA sought to address this by pub- rather academic focus on international treaties (dating lishing and codifying regulations. Not surprisingly, these back to the 1960s and 1970s) to the later emergence of regulations were similar to the Air Force’s practices and national or domestic space laws. In the United States, procedures. The FAA promulgated the so-called “launch this includes the regulatory roles and activities of the rule” or core regulations governing launch vehicles. It FAA, the FCC, and the National Oceanic and Atmo- took nine years to finalize those regulations. spheric Administration (NOAA). As the focus has started to shift from expendable to reusable rockets, compa- A&SL: Pamela, what were the big issues in space nies like SpaceX and Blue Origin are leading the way law 20–30 years ago from your perspective? and hopefully will make space more accessible from an PM: During the 1980s, satellite communications regu- operational and cost perspective. Orbital debris, how- lation was the major space law practice area. The Federal ever, remains a significant and increasing concern. I was Communications Commission (FCC) began to regulate proud that the FAA was the first regulatory agency to private satellite communications companies in the 1970s issue debris rules, and the private sector is also attempt- using the Communications Act, a law that was enacted ing to address the problem (e.g., through the Space Data in 1934. The FCC determined that since it had jurisdic- Association), which is appropriate because it is their tion under the Act to regulate “radio stations,” it could property that would get destroyed if a collision occurs. regulate communications satellites because they are radio This is an area in which greater dialogue and coordina- stations. It didn’t matter that they were in space. Around tion is essential to address the problem.