Timothy Hughes

From SpaceWiki

Timothy Hughes, Vice President and Legal Counsel at SpaceX, is far more than just a company lawyer. In his previous job as Majority Counsel to the U.S. House Science Committee, he was the main author of the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004, which provided the legal framework for all private human spaceflight in the United States. SpaceShipOne was allowed to fly some months before this law was passed, but without it, there would probably be no legal way to establish a private space tourism business or carry astronauts to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX rocket.

In addition to his current job at SpaceX, Hughes is a member of the FAA's Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee, which presumably helps determine how private spacecraft can get air-traffic clearance and avoid crashing into airplanes, among other things. In the past, Hughes has also worked for a law firm with the rather implausible name of Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP, and for the Chief Counsel for the United States Secret Service.