Commercial space travel understanding the legal, ethical and medical implications for commercial spaceflight participants and crew

Commercial human spaceflight raises numerous medical, legal and ethical considerations with regard to the health and safety of civilian spaceflight participants (SFPs) and commercial crew. New and emerging space transportation companies are proposing a range of commercial suborbital, orbital, interplanetary and point-to-point space transportation. However, the diversity in mission architecture, operation, flight purpose and duration make it difficult to establish a solitary risk assessment or approach towards spaceflight as a homogeneous activity. Even after 50 years in space, there is no denying that a great deal of scientific, technological and medical uncertainty exists with spaceflight. While some hazards have been identified (e.g. acceleration, microgravity, radiation and meteorites), physiological risks and uncertainties for spacefarers remain and are accentuated in opening space access to a wide demographic of individuals with varying levels of fitness and no standardized medical criteria for selection. In addition, the scope of physiological risks spans pre-flight, in-flight and post-flight operations and activities this in turn triggers practical mitigation measures and bioethical-legal duties, such as full disclosure and informed consent. This paper will provide an overview of the applicable laws, underlying values and duties of care intertwined with spaceflight and addresses prominent concerns of medical uncertainty and human risk factors. The aim of which is to assist in establishing a practical, prudent and sustainable framework for human expansion into space.