All commercial launches (or re-entries or landings) conducted by a U.S. company are regulated by the Commercial Space Launch Act (CSLA) of 1984 and its 1988 and 1998 amendments. Under the CSLA, each launch (or re-entry) must have a license. This is true even when launching offshore, as is the case with Kistler Aerospace, which is headquartered in Seattle but launches in Australia, or Sea Launch, a venture composed of Boeing, a Russian company, and a Norwegian company that launches from a ship. These regulations are an outcome of the United Nations's 1967 Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, which places responsibility for any liabilities that might result from a space launch and/or reentry (for instance, if a person or building is hit by a spent rocket stage) on the launching state.

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