Photo: Michael Deep/SpaceFlight Insider
You might think the “finders keepers” rule applies if something falls out of the sky smack into your backyard, but if your backyard (and, presumably, the rest of your house) is in Florida, you’re fresh out of luck.
A new bill, House Bill 221, was passed by lawmakers earlier this week, preventing just that. According to the Florida Keys News, if Gov. Ron DeSantis has no objection to it, the bill should go into effect on July 1, 2021, and it will make it illegal for Floridians to keep any space-related junk that falls into their yard.
So much for collecting space souvenirs or making a profit off of them.
The bill came with backing from SpaceX, which has been launching rockets from Cape Canaveral for years. NASA has also been launching out of Florida for a very long time but did not do any lobbying on this particular bill. SpaceX, on the other hand, did, citing the reduction on spaceflight costs (by recovery of all lost parts) and protecting trade secrets among the reasons for the need of such a law.
In short, SpaceX says that it’s essential to recover all parts to be able to reuse them on future launches. At the same time, SpaceX is trying to prevent said parts from being sold on eBay or to China or some other competitor. “This bill, which seems trivial, is extremely important,” SpaceX lobbyist Jeff Sharkey said in front of a House committee last month.
Floridians who discover parts “reasonably identifiable as a spaceflight asset must report the description and location” to the police, which will then endeavor to find the owner and return it. Failure to do so will result in a $1,000 fine and restitution to the rightful owner and a first-degree misdemeanor, “misappropriation of a spaceflight asset.”
The bill applies to any “spaceflight asset” defined as “crewed and uncrewed capsules, launch vehicles, parachutes and other landing aids, and any ancillary equipment that was attached to the launch vehicle during launch, orbit, or reentry.” Not “nuts and bolts,” though, so presumably, you can keep those if they land on your lawn.
So much for collecting space souvenirs or making a profit off of them.
The bill came with backing from SpaceX, which has been launching rockets from Cape Canaveral for years. NASA has also been launching out of Florida for a very long time but did not do any lobbying on this particular bill. SpaceX, on the other hand, did, citing the reduction on spaceflight costs (by recovery of all lost parts) and protecting trade secrets among the reasons for the need of such a law.
In short, SpaceX says that it’s essential to recover all parts to be able to reuse them on future launches. At the same time, SpaceX is trying to prevent said parts from being sold on eBay or to China or some other competitor. “This bill, which seems trivial, is extremely important,” SpaceX lobbyist Jeff Sharkey said in front of a House committee last month.
Floridians who discover parts “reasonably identifiable as a spaceflight asset must report the description and location” to the police, which will then endeavor to find the owner and return it. Failure to do so will result in a $1,000 fine and restitution to the rightful owner and a first-degree misdemeanor, “misappropriation of a spaceflight asset.”
The bill applies to any “spaceflight asset” defined as “crewed and uncrewed capsules, launch vehicles, parachutes and other landing aids, and any ancillary equipment that was attached to the launch vehicle during launch, orbit, or reentry.” Not “nuts and bolts,” though, so presumably, you can keep those if they land on your lawn.
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