usta in Portland
Daily Driver
As space tourism becomes closer to a reality the legal and liability issues involved with it have surfaced. It turns out the US already has law covering the indemnification of losses resulting from a serious large rocket failure. The numbers are, of course staggering, but additionally they are of interest to the public (or at least the taxpaying part of the public. Companies like Virgin Galactic are required to post insurance for launches from US territory to the tune of $100M ; this being the amount estimated to cover damage from a very large and unfortunate accident. However, the total liability to which these companies are exposed is essentially limitless. What's astropeneur to do? Well, shove of the balance of claims onto the US taxpayer of course. Beyond the insurable $100M and up to as much as $2.7B the US government provides indemnification. Ain't it sweet. So Richard Branson launching his thrill ride for billionaires from New Mexico will need to provide insurance for third party damages for the $100M. That will cost Sir Richard (or is he Lord Richard ?) about $275,000-approximately his yearly florist bill I imagine. After Virgin 1 crashes into the middle of Taos and his insurer ponies up $100M the rest is on us or the US that is.:mallet::mallet:
