Ships, Shipping, and Spaceships: How US Commercial Space Cargo Industries Can Avoid the Unintended Consequences of the Jones Act

In the United States, the Jones Act (1920) requires all vessels carrying cargo between US ports to be American-built, crewed, operated, and flagged. Over a hundred years later, as cargo shipping begins to expand into outer space, American policymakers must learn from the negative unintended consequences of the Jones Act. In order to support the growth of the US industry without enacting harmful protectionist policies, the US space community must invest in multi-operational infrastructure, focus on cost-effective domestic operations, and invest early in education for American personnel to organically retain domestic expertise. This paper argues that American policymakers in the commercial space industry should avoid adopting a regulatory framework similar to the Jones Act because of its protectionist structure and its long-term industry harm.