I’m sure you’ll recall that Elon Musk recently held a little event with Ron Desantis. It didn’t go well. But that doesn’t mean Ron isn’t grateful:
FLORIDA GOV. RON DeSantis (R-FL) signed a bill regarding spaceflight on Thursday just one day after he announced his presidential run in a glitch-filled interview with Elon Musk on Twitter Spaces.
DeSantis signed into law CS/SB 1318 – Spaceflight Entity Liability along with 27 other bills. The law exempts “spaceflight entity from liability for injury to or death of a crew resulting from spaceflight activities under certain circumstances.” The measure also requires “a spaceflight entity to have a crew sign a specified warning statement.”
Florida is a known launching point for SpaceX aircrafts, and the new law could potentially shield Musk and other space flight companies from being sued for accidents that injure or kill crew members.
The law specifies 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.”
I’m so old I remember when Republicans were apoplectic that Hillary Clinton was running for president while her husband ran a global charity because of the “appearance of conflict of interest.” This, however, is completely fine. More than fine. It’s smart.