New Mexico Senate Kills Additional Spaceflight Liability Protection Bill

A New Mexico Senate panel has killed a bill that would have extended liability protections manufacturers of parts and equipment used on commercial spaceflights:

The proposal failed in the Judiciary Committee on a 6-5 vote.

Democrats said the bill went too far in eroding the rights of consumers. The measure would have prevented passengers or their families from suing manufacturers of parts and equipment used in space flights.

Sen. Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, sponsored the bill on behalf of Spaceport America and businesses interested in New Mexico’s space industry. Papen said the vote was a disappointment and a setback for the $209 million Spaceport in Sierra County.

“I think it will have a slowdown” because of a lack of legal protection for suppliers, Papen said.

Sen. Lisa Curtis, D-Albuquerque, voted against special protections for the space industry.

Curtis, a trial attorney, said the bill was flawed. A company’s negligence could kill a six passengers on a space flight, but the business would have no liability under the bill, she said.

Curtis said New Mexico’s stand for consumer protection actually would attract more passengers. Other states — including Texas, Virginia and Florida — have approved laws to protect companies from lawsuits in cases of space travel.

The decision is a setback to the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, which is seeking to attract more tenants to the $209 million Spaceport America near Truth or Consequences. Officials said that Sierra Nevada Corporation and another company had made passage of the measure a condition of locating to the desert spaceport, where Virgin Galactic is the anchor tenant.

New Mexico has already passed liability protection legislation protection spaceflight operators from being sued except in cases of gross negligence and willful misconduct. However, extended such protections to parts and equipment manufacturers proved to be a step too far.