A surprising US Senate vote last week may finally clarify the Federal Aviation Administration's regulatory powers over manned suborbital vehicle launches, but the fledgling commercial spaceflight industry will press for further reforms, writes Stephen Trimble.
"Now that the playing field is settled you can focus on how the game is played," says Jeff Greason, chief executive of Xcor Aerospace, which owns one of only two suborbital launch licences approved by the FAA's commercial space transportation (AST) office. Scaled Composites holds the other for SpaceShipOne.
Following the Senate's vote on 8 December, both Houses of Congress have now approved the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act, which awaits the signature of President George Bush to become law.
The bill establishes AST as the regulatory authority for manned commercial spaceflight, creates an experimental permit regime for suborbital launches and limits the liability exposure for launch accidents involving paying passengers.
Supporters say the bill eliminates gaps in regulations that made potential investors nervous. Under current law, AST is responsible for licensing unmanned commercial space launches, but has no explicit authority to monitor manned launches. That changes.
But critics, including Scaled founder Burt Rutan, have argued that AST is ill-equipped to adapt a 40-year-old body of regulations originally intended for unmanned space launches of commercial satellites to a highly experimental phase of manned launches.
Even the bill's supporters privately acknowledge critical flaws, saying it leaves the status of hybrid rocket and jet-powered vehicles ambiguous. Passenger safety is also of concern.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY ROB COPPINGER
Source: Flight International
