A Legal Evaluation of the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Outer Space Asset-Financing

Abstract

The space industry has grown significantly in importance, with more and more private companies aiming to provide services within the space environment. These include space tourism and the extensive deployment of satellites for earth monitoring, communication, and space exploration. Technological developments have accelerated the ability of private companies to provide services and establish businesses in the space area, with several new businesses providing services worldwide. With the technological advances in AI, the space area has been an essential area for AI to be deployed and the challenges it may face. The challenges with AI in the space sector and regulations in the space sector overall is the global regulatory nature of the environment. This is incredibly challenging given the significant discussion regarding national AI regulations to deal with this fast-developing area. Based on the challenging regulatory environment and associated risks, financing these new business models has presented new complexities that must be taken care of. Asset-based financing of such operations represents vital opportunities to deal with the intricate complexities of such operations and the various legal environments. While liability and other challenges have to be considered both in light of national and international regulations that may have to be taken into account, asset financing represents a very attractive option given the priority and security of the interest in the space asset. Specifically, there are various remedies given that it reduces the risk of various non-compatible regulations in order to secure their concerning asset rights. Furthermore, pre-existing third-party interests can be looked up via online registries, reducing potential risks.