Regulating and Licensing Commercial Space Transportation

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Regulating and Licensing Commercial Space
Transportation

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Purpose

• Discuss how the Federal Aviation Administrations
  Office of Commercial Space Transportation
  (FAA/AST) regulates and licenses launch and
  reentry operations.
• Background
• Statutory Authority
• FAA/AST History
• Licensing and Safety Inspection Overview
• Commercial Space Transportation Regulations
• Commercial Human Space Flight and the Way Ahead

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BackgroundStatutory Authority and
FAA/AST History
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Statutory Authority

• 49 U. S. C. Subtitle IX, ch. 701
• Authorizes the FAA to license commercial launch
  and reentry activities and the operation of
  launch and reentry sites as carried out by U.S.
  citizens or within the United States.
• Directs the FAA to
• Exercise this responsibility consistent with
  public health and safety, safety of property, and
  the national security and foreign policy
  interests of the United States, and
• Encourage, facilitate, and promote commercial
  space launches and reentries by the private
  sector.
• The Secretary of Transportations
  licensing authority has been delegated to the
  Administrator of the FAA and further assigned to
  the Associate Administrator for Commercial Space
  Transportation (AST).

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FAA/AST History

• 1982 - First Non-Federal Launch Occurred
• 1984 - Executive Order 12465 and Commercial Space
  Launch Act (CSLA)
  establishing DOT Office of Commercial Space
  Transportation (OCST)
• 1988 - First Launch License Issued
• 1988 - Amendment to CSLA Instituted Financial
  Responsibility Regime
• 1989 - First Commercial Launch
• 1995 - OCST Transfers to the FAA as a New Line of
  Business
• 1996 - First Launch Site Operator License Issued

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FAA/AST History (cont.)

• 1998 - Commercial Space Act of 1998 Extended
  Licensing Authority to Reentries
  and Operation of Reentry Sites
• 2000 - Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) and Reentry
  Licensing Final Rule Issued
• 2004 - First RLV Mission License Issued
• 2004 - First Commercial RLV Launch
• 2004 - Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of
  2004, Extended Authority For
  Commercial Human Space Flight and Created
  Experimental Permit Regime
• 2006 First Experimental Permit Issued and First
  Launch Under an Experimental
• Permit
• 2006 Human Space Flight Final Rule Issued
• 2007 Experimental Permit Final Rule Issued

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Licensing and Safety Inspection Overview
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Who Must Obtain A License

• An entity must obtain a license
• To launch a launch vehicle from the United
  States
• To operate a launch site within the United
  States
• To reenter a reentry vehicle in the United
  States or
• To operate a reentry site within the United
  States.
• A U.S. citizen or an entity organized under the
  laws of the United States or any State must
  obtain a license
• To launch a launch vehicle outside the United
  States
• To operate a launch site outside of the United
  States
• To reenter a reentry vehicle outside of the
  United States or
• To operate a reentry site outside of the United
  States.
• AST does not license launches by and for the
  government (e.g., DoD and NASA) or operation of a
  Federal launch site.

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Operations Licensed and Regulated By FAA/AST
Air launch
Launch and reentry sites
Sea launch
Reusable Launch Vehicles and Human Space Flight
Suborbitals
Ground launch
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U.S. SpaceportsCommercial and Government Active
and Proposed Launch Sites

Kodiak Launch Complex
Chugwater Spaceport

Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport
California Spaceport


Mojave Airport
Wallops Flight Facility
Key U.S. Federal Launch Site Non-Federal
FAA-Licensed Launch Site Proposed Non-Federal
Launch Site Sole Site Operator (FAA
license or permit)
Oklahoma Spaceport



Spaceport America


Edwards AFB


Vandenberg AFB
Cecil Field Spaceport



White Sands Missile Range

• Kennedy Space
• Center
• Cape Canaveral
• Air Force Station

Blue Origin Launch site
Spaceport Florida
Sea Launch Platform Equatorial Pacific Ocean
Reagan Test Site Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands
Other spaceports have been proposed by Alabama,
Washington, Hawaii, Wisconsin and multiple
locations in Texas.
FAA/AST October 2008
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Types of Licenses

• Launch License (for Expendable Launch Vehicles).
• Launch-specific license authorizes a specific
  launch or multiple launches with nearly identical
  parameters (vehicle design, launch location,
  trajectory, payload, etc.).
• Launch Operator license authorizes launches of a
  range of payloads and trajectories for a family
  of vehicles from the same site.
• Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Mission Licenses.
• Mission-specific license authorizes a licensee to
  launch and reenter one model (may authorize more
  than one RLV mission, but identifies each
  flight).
• Operator license authorizes a licensee to launch
  and reenter any of a designated family of RLVs
  within authorized parameters, including launch
  sites and trajectories, transporting specified
  classes of payloads to any reentry site or other
  location designated in the license.
• Reentry Licenses.
• Reentry-specific license.
• Reentry-operator license.
• Launch or Reentry Site Operator License.
• Authorizes operation of a launch or reentry site.

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Launch Reentry Licensing Process Flow
Policy Review
Pre-application Consultation
Payload Review
Financial Responsibility Determination
License Determination
Application
Environmental Determination
Safety Review
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License Determination

• AST will initially screen an application to
  determine if it is complete enough to start its
  review.
• AST reviews and makes a decision on an
  application within 180 days of receiving an
  accepted license application.
• Evaluation of license application is documented
  in an internal AST technical evaluation, which is
  the basis for a licensing determination.

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Pre-application Consultation

• Encompasses discussions with prospective
  applicant prior to submittal of a license
  application.
• Allows a prospective applicant to familiarize AST
  with its proposal and AST to familiarize
  prospective applicant with licensing process and
  type of information required in an application.
• Provides prospective applicant with an
  opportunity to discuss issues and identify any
  unique aspects of its proposal, and develop a
  schedule for submitting an application.

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Policy Review

• Determines whether a proposed launch or reentry
  operation or operation of a launch or reentry
  site presents any issues affecting U.S. national
  security or foreign policy interests, or
  international obligations of the United States
• A major element of the policy review is the
  interagency review, which allows government
  agencies to examine the proposed mission from
  their unique perspectives
• Department of Defense
• Department of State
• NASA
• FCC NOAA (for informational purposes only)

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Payload Review

• Determines if a payload proposed for launch or
  reentry would jeopardize public health and
  safety, safety of property, U.S. national
  security or foreign policy interests, or
  international obligations of the United States.
• Does not apply to payloads that are under the
  jurisdiction of any other government agency (e.g.
  FCC, NOAA, etc.).
• Includes an interagency review.

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Financial Responsibility Determination

• AST conducts a Maximum Probable Loss (MPL)
  analysis to determine the amounts of financial
  responsibility required of the licensee to cover
• Pre-flight (third party)
• Pre-flight (government property)
• Flight (third party)
• Flight (government property)
• Third parties are considered
• Government workers and their contractors, and
• Persons who are not involved with the launch.
• Proof of financial responsibility required by
  licensee is usually fulfilled by purchase of
  liability insurance.
• Subject to appropriations, U.S. Government may
  pay successful third-party liability claims in
  excess of required MPL-based insurance (up to
  1.5 billion).

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Environmental Review

• Analyzes the environmental effects associated
  with the proposed operations
• Often begins prior to the formal license
  application review process because it is
  typically a long-lead item.
• Licensing launches and reentries and operation of
  launch and reentry sites is considered a Major
  Federal Action and is therefore subject to the
  National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

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Safety Review

• Determines whether an applicant is capable of
  safely launching a launch vehicle and its payload
  or reentering a reentry vehicle and its payload.
• Involves technical analyses
• Quantitative analyses focus on the reliability
  and functions of safety-critical systems, and the
  hazards associated with the hardware, and the
  risk those hazards pose to public property and
  individuals near the launch site, along the
  flight path, and upon reentry
• Qualitative analyses focus on the organizational
  attributes of the applicant such as launch safety
  policies and procedures, communications,
  qualifications of key individuals, and critical
  internal and external interfaces

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Safety ReviewRisk and Expected Casualty

• Risk is defined by the safety community as the
  product of the probability of occurrence of an
  event and the consequences of that event
• Expected casualty is used in the space
  transportation industry as a measure of risk to
  public safety
• Expected casualty is the expected average number
  of casualties per mission
• Casualty is a fatality or serious injury
• ECi ? Pi ? ACi ? PDi
• Where
• i denotes each specific overflight or impact
  population center
• Pi probability of occurrence of ith event
• AC casualty area of impacting debris
• PD population density of area at risk
• EC will be the sum for all values of (i)

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Risk Computation
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Public Risk Criteria

• Collective and individual risk criteria must
  be met under a license.
• Risk level to collective members of the public
  exposed to vehicle debris impact hazards must not
  exceed an expected average of 0.00003 casualties
  per mission (EC lt 30 ? 10-6 )
• Risk level to an individual member of the public
  must not exceed 1 ? 10-6 per mission.

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Typical Difference Between Expendable and
Reusable Launch Vehicles

• Expendable Launch Vehicles (ELVs) typically are
  launched over unpopulated ocean areas and rely
  upon a flight termination system that assures
  safe flight by destroying a vehicle travelling
  beyond preapproved boundaries.
• In contrast, Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLVs)
  would be designed for recovery and reuse such
  that launch safety, for the most part, may be
  assured through non-destructive means of
  terminating flight (e.g., land at an abort site).
• Some RLVs may have crew and space flight
  participants on board.

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RLV Public SafetyThree-pronged approach

• Licensing of RLV missions uses a
  three-pronged approach to address public safety
  by interrelating three elements so that together
  risks are sufficiently contained at an acceptable
  level.

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Compliance Monitoring Safety Inspections

• FAA/AST performs compliance monitoring for
  licensed or permitted activities to ensure
  compliance with
• Statute
• Regulations
• Representations made in a license or permit
  application
• Terms and conditions of a license or permit
• Some compliance monitoring activities take place
  at a site by the licensee or permit recipient for
  manufacturing or launching. This monitoring may
  include an on-site safety inspection of hardware,
  tests, processes, or procedures.

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Commercial Space Transportation
Regulations
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Commercial Space Transportation Regulations

• Part 400Basis and Scope
• Part 401Organization and Definitions
• Part 404Regulations and Licensing Requirements
• Part 405Investigations and Enforcement
• Part 406Investigations, Enforcement, and
  
  Administrative Review
• Part 413License Application Procedures
• Part 414Safety Approvals
• Part 415Launch License
• Part 417Launch Safety

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Commercial Space Transportation Regulations
(cont.)

• Part 420License to Operate a Launch Site
• Part 431Launch and Reentry of a Reusable Launch
  Vehicle (RLV)
• Part 433License to Operate a Reentry Site
• Part 435Reentry of a Reentry Vehicle Other than
  a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV)
• Part 437Experimental Permits
• Part 440Financial Responsibility
• Part 460Human Space Flight Requirements

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Commercial Human Space Flight and the
Way Ahead
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Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004
(CSLAA)

• Made the FAA responsible for regulating
  commercial human space flight.
• Established an informed risk and consent regime
  for carrying crew and space flight participants.
• Required a phased approach to regulating
  commercial human space flight so that regulatory
  standards governing human space flight evolve as
  the industry matures.
• Established an experimental permit regime for
  developmental reusable suborbital rockets for
• Research and development
• Showing compliance with requirements for a
  license or
• Crew training prior to obtaining a license.

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CSLAA (cont.)

• CSLAA legislative history suggested that an
  experimental permit should be granted
• More quickly and with fewer requirements than a
  license, and be more like an aircraft special
  airworthiness certificate in the experimental
  category.
• Under an experimental permit, no property or
  human being may be carried for compensation or
  hire on a reusable suborbital rocket.

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Human Space Flight Requirements

• In accordance with the CSLAA, the FAA/AST issued
  regulations where crew and space flight
  participants (SFP) may be on board a launch or
  reentry vehicle if
• Crew has received training and has satisfied
  medical requirements.
• Crew and SFP have been informed that the U.S.
  Government has not certified the launch vehicle
  as safe for carrying crew or SFPs.
• - SFP has been informed about launch or reentry
  risks.
• SFP has provided written informed consent to
  participate in the mission.
• Crew and SFP have executed a reciprocal waiver of
  claims with the federal government.

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The Way Ahead

• Development of commercial human space flight
  (HSF) as a new segment of the aerospace industry
  is underway.
• Although HSF regulations have been issued, the
  FAA continues to plan for the future and be
  proactive in the following areas
• Research and development
• Strategic planning and identification of future
  rulemaking needs
• Development of advisory circulars, guidance
  documents and
• Assessment of issues to ensure that the FAA/AST
  keeps pace with the HSF industry.
• Regulations will continue to evolve to keep pace
  with industry as it develops beyond suborbital
  space tourism and moves toward point-to-point
  travel and orbital human space flight.

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Conclusion

• Public safety is the FAA/ASTs primary mission
  objective.
• FAA/AST regulations have progressed over the
  years as the commercial space transportation
  industry continues to change, grow, and develop.
• Performance-based rather than design-based
  regulations have been developed to accommodate
  new technology and operations in the future.
• FAA/AST and industry are both learning and
  working together as new launch vehicle concepts
  and operations emerge.

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Conclusion (cont.)

• Challenges and issues still remain but there is
  now less regulatory uncertainty in the area of
  commercial human space flight due to the FAA's
  establishment of a regulatory framework.
• FAA/AST has been able to regulate and license
  commercial space transportation in a growing and
  dynamic environment by
• Proactively anticipating and addressing future
  issues
• Planning for the future and
• Engaging industry and other agencies or
  organizations.