NOAA Requires License For Photos of the Earth

Teancum writes "In an interesting show of the level of regulations private spacecraft designers have to go through, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has demanded that American participants of the Google Lunar X Prize obtain a license if their spacecraft are 'capable of actively or passively sensing the Earth's surface, including bodies of water, from space by making use of the properties of the electromagnetic waves emitted, reflected, or diffracted by the sensed objects.' What prompted NOAA to ask for this license came from a visit by the XPrize staff to the NOAA offices in Maryland. What is going to happen when 'space tourists' bring their private cameras along for the ride?"

Comments

Wow

[jrwr00]

Um, Wow i didnt think you could copyright THE EARTH.. What next? The Moon!

Re:This is actually for real

[baby_robots]

It seems like it would be hard to enforce jurisdiction in space when we don't even have jurisdiction 10 miles off our coastline.