Pillsbury Space Practice

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP's Space Practice is one of the leading dedicated space law groups at a major international law firm — providing comprehensive legal counsel to commercial space companies, satellite operators, launch service providers, space investors, and government contractors on the full range of regulatory, transactional, and policy matters that govern space commerce.

Pillsbury's space attorneys, led from the Washington, D.C. office and coordinating with offices in Silicon Valley, New York, and internationally, advise clients across the commercial space ecosystem's most technically complex legal challenges. Launch licensing practice covers FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation (FAA/AST) launch license applications and payload review for orbital and suborbital vehicles, including the preparation of risk analyses, hazard assessments, financial responsibility requirements, and international consultation documentation. Satellite regulatory practice encompasses FCC satellite licensing for U.S. operators (earth station licenses, space station licenses, NGSO market access petitions), ITU coordination filings, and spectrum interference dispute resolution — areas that have grown dramatically in complexity as large LEO constellation operators navigate ITU Radio Regulation frameworks designed for a handful of GEO operators.

Space resource law is a key specialty as the legal framework governing commercial extraction of lunar and asteroid resources evolves — Pillsbury attorneys have advised on the implications of the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of 2015 (which established U.S. citizens' rights to resources extracted from celestial bodies), the Luxembourg space resources law, the Artemis Accords bilateral agreements, and potential future international treaty frameworks. Commercial human spaceflight regulations — FAA informed consent requirements, crew licensing, medical standards — are another niche where Pillsbury advises operators including suborbital tourism companies and emerging orbital hotel developers.

The firm also handles NASA and NOAA contract negotiations, licensing of remote sensing data products under the NOAA commercial remote sensing regulatory framework, and international space cooperation agreements. Pillsbury competes with Hogan Lovells' space practice, Dentons' global space team, and specialized boutique firms like Tidal Earth and Communications Law Center.