The emergence of demand for space travel, the emergence of commercial enterprises and travel agencies in the space industry,the development of vehicles designed exclusively for transporting tourists into space – all this suggests that space may soon turn froma scientific object into a common destination. Therefore, today the legal regulation of private space flights is a promising issue, giventhat there is no such legislation in Ukraine. We turn to the analysis of the legislation of the United States of America to assess whatarray of regulations we will have to master if we want to develop private space flights at home.A private space flight is a space flight or development of space flight technology that is conducted and paid for by an entity otherthan a government agency. Depending on the purpose, private space flights are divided into flights for the purpose of transportation ofcargoes, and flights within the framework of space tourism.The article presents an overview and analysis of the legislation of the USA regulating private space flights, in particular, flightsfor the purpose of transportation of cargoes, and flights in the framework of space tourism. The author highlights a chronological formationof the commercialization of space, which clearly shows the gradual transition of the United States from a complete reluctanceto allow private space flights to the recognition of the indisputable economic feasibility of such activities. A significant shift in this areahas taken place since 2015, when five directives on space policy, the National Space Strategy and orders on the exploration, extractionand use of space resources were adopted.The author analyzes the main sources of space law in the United States. It was found that mostly, the legislation does not keepup with innovations in the commercialization of space, thus, there is a situation when first comes a relationship (flight of a tourist orcargo into space), and then – the legislative regulation of such relations.
Private space flights: legal regulation in the United States
