A bill limiting the liability of spaceflight companies in Colorado has passed through the state's Senate Judiciary Committee and is on its way to the full senate. Here are the details.
* According to its text, Senate Bill 35 would limit the liability for a spaceflight entity for any injury to a spaceflight participant unless the injury is intentionally caused or caused by gross negligence on behalf of the entity. The bill requires participants of spaceflight activity to sign an agreement and warning statement acknowledging the limitation of liability.
* The bill states the Colorado General Assembly declares the state has the second-largest aerospace workforce in the nation and is poised, with its mile-high altitude, to lead the country in horizontal take-off commercial flight. Eight of the nation's top aerospace contractors have significant operations in Colorado and the state's universities are among the best in the world for aerospace engineering, the bill states.
* The bill states the governor has endorsed an application for the Front Range Airport to be designated a spaceport by the U.S. government. According to the Colorado Space Coalition, Gov. John Hickenlooper announced Colorado's filing of a letter of intent to the Federal Aviation Administration in December.
* According to the coalition, Colorado's Office of Economic Development and International Trade will be developing a spaceport strategy for the state.
* The limited liability bill, if passed, would take effect on Aug. 7 unless a referendum is filed against it, requiring it to be approved by voters in November.
* On Feb. 2, the Colorado Legislative Council found the bill is consistent with the efforts of state and local agencies to promote Front Range Airport as a terminal for spaceflight activities. The bill does not affect revenue or expenditures of any governmental agency, the staff noted, and the activities in question will take a number of years to develop.
* According to Front Range Airport, federal designation of a spaceport could possibly happen in late 2012 and that in 10 to 15 years, space plane could "fly on the edge of space from one spaceport to another in a matter of hours." Commercial space planes, at an altitude of over 50,000 feet, would move at faster than Mach 4. Front Range's aviation director, Dennis Heap, said it is estimated about 40 percent of the world's population will utilize this type of transportation.
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