It’s not what most people think of when they hear the term “space suit,” but a bill in the Colorado legislature would limit legal actions against companies ferrying passengers into the final frontier.

Senate Bill 35 is meant to help promote a fledgling space industry in Colorado whose hub is planned to be at Front Range Airport, east of Denver near Watkins.

The airport has applied to the Federal Aviation Administration to be a spaceport, a designation that would allow it to horizontally launch space-bound jets, which would then fire rockets at 50,000 feet, hurtling them into a suborbital path.

Eventually, that could allow passengers, or cargo, to reach faraway destinations on Earth quickly — like Australia in an hour — and it would promote space tourism. The Colorado spaceport’s method would differ from a spaceport being built in southern New Mexico, where vehicles would launch vertically.

But before the spaceport comes, lawmakers need to pass some legal protections, said Sen. Mary Hodge, D-Brighton,

to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday.

Her bill would limit the liability of companies carrying passengers into the black beyond, owing to “the inherent risks of spaceflight activity.”

Under the bill, spaceflight companies could be sued only for the death or injury of passengers in cases of gross negligence or where the company reasonably should have known of a dangerous condition on the land, or in the facilities or equipment used.

The immunity from lawsuits also would not apply in cases of intentional injury.

In fact, passengers would have to sign an agreement acknowledging the company’s limited liability under Colorado law.

The Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, which opposes general immunity from lawsuits, agreed to remain neutral on the bill in exchange for an amendment clarifying that the prohibition applied only to spaceflight passengers and not people and property on the ground.

Once built, the spaceport is expected to attract more space-related companies that want to have their products and services nearby.

None of this is pipe-dream fancy. Gov. John Hickenlooper supports the spaceport, and the idea has the backing of economic-development officials across Colorado. Civic leaders point to a race among multiple states — and countries — to ramp up spaceport developments. Colorado already is No. 2 in the nation for space-industry jobs.

Among those who testified in favor of the bill was Allan Lockheed Jr., son of aviation pioneer Allan Lockheed Sr.

Denver “will be an international hub of suborbital space travel,” Lockheed said.

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday unanimously passed Senate Bill 35, which now must go to the full Senate.

Tim Hoover: 303-954-1626or thoover@denverpost.com

