Get documents about "Commercial Space Flight New Legislation and the Industry and Developments which Impact Commercial Airports
Document Sample
Commercial Space Flight -- New Legislation and
the Industry and Developments which Impact
Commercial Airports
FAA NW Mountain Region
Airports Conference
April 5, 2005
Background
• The U.S. space program today has 3 sectors:
– Civil
– Military
– Commercial
• The commercial sector was created in 1984 with the
passage of the Commercial Space Launch Act.
• Responsibility for this sector was given to the Office of
Commercial Space Transportation, which was originally
a staff office within the Department of Transportation.
• Today, AST is one of the lines of business within the
FAA.
2
Our Mission
To ensure the protection of the public, property,
and the national security and foreign policy
interests of the United States during commercial
launch and reentry activities, and to encourage,
facilitate, and promote U.S. commercial space
transportation.
3
Who Needs a Launch License?
• Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984 requires U.S.
citizens to obtain a license prior to conducting the
launch of a launch vehicle
• Only exception is for missions conducted by and for the
government (such as launches by NASA or the U.S. Air
Force)
• AST has issued launch licenses for more than 150
Expendable Launch Vehicle (ELV) missions
• Although the first Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV)
license was not granted until 2004, AST has been
working on RLV and Human Space Flight issues for
several years, including the development of regulations
and guidelines
4
Examples of Licensing Activities
Air launch
Launch sites
Ground launch
Sea launch Suborbital
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U.S. Spaceports
Commercial and Government Active and Proposed Launch and Reentry Sites
*
Spaceport
Washington
Wisconsin Spaceport
*
Virginia Mid-Atlantic
Nevada Test Site * Regional Spaceport
*
Utah Spaceport
California Spaceport Wallops Flight
Facility
Mojave Spaceport
Vandenberg AFB
Edwards AFB * Oklahoma Spaceport
White Sands Missile Range
* Southwest Regional Spaceport
Cape Canaveral Spaceport
-Kennedy Space Center
-Cape Canaveral Air Force
* Spaceport Alabama
West Texas Spaceport *
Station
-Spaceport operated by
FL Space Authority
* Gulf Coast Regional Spaceport
* South Texas Spaceport
Key:
U.S. Federal Spaceport
Kodiak Launch Complex
Non-Federal Spaceport
*
Proposed Non-Federal Spaceport
6
Licensing Process Flow
Policy
Review
Payload
Review
Safety
Application Review License
Environmental
Review
Financial
Responsibility
Review
7
Approach to Public Safety
3 INTERDEPENDENT PRONGS
USE OF A SYSTEMATIC,
OPERATING
LOGICAL, DISCIPLINED
EXPECTED CASUALTY RESTRICTIONS
SYSTEM SAFETY PROCESS
ANALYSIS
AND
RESULT IN
PUBLIC SAFETY
8
The X Prize
• The X Prize is a $10 Million cash
prize for the first team to privately
finance, build, and fly a reusable
launch vehicle that is capable of
safely launching three people to 100
km and conducting a repeat mission
with the same vehicle within 2 weeks.
• The X Prize was founded in 1996 for
the specific purpose of stimulating
the creation of a new generation of
launch vehicles designed to carry
passengers into space.
9
X Prize Teams
26 Teams from 7 Different Countries
Scaled Composites/Rutan
Armadillo Aerospace
Advent Launch Services
Starchaser - UK
DaVinci Project -Canada
Canadian Arrow - Canada 10
Scaled Composites’ Launch System
White Knight Carrier Aircraft
SpaceShipOne
Takeoff Configuration
11
Paul Allen and Burt Rutan
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Important Milestones from 2004
• April 1 – AST issues the first launch license for a
Reusable Launch Vehicle
• April 8 – SpaceShipOne completes the first manned
commercial rocket launch
• June 17 – AST issues the first license for an inland
Spaceport
• June 21 – Mike Melvill is awarded the first
commercial astronaut wings
• October 4 – The X Prize is won
13
Taxi Prior to Takeoff
14
The View from Space
15
Touchdown!
16
The New Astronauts
17
Wings Presentation
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FAA Commercial Astronaut Wings
Eligibility:
Flight crew on board an AST-licensed launch vehicle on a flight
that exceeds 50 miles in altitude
19
Commercial Space Launch
Amendments Act
• Puts Congress and the Administration on the record
as supporting the development of commercial human
space flight.
• Establishes an “informed consent” regime for carrying
space flight participants.
• Creates a new experimental launch permit for testing
reusable suborbital launch vehicles.
• Calls for proposed regulations to be issued within
12 months, with final regulations to be published
within 18 months.
20
What Happens Next?
We may see several new prize competitions, including an annual
X PRIZE Cup and a $50M America’s Space Prize for manned
orbital flight.
In addition, a number of wealthy investors have announced their
intention to get involved in commercial space flight, and some are
already developing systems:
• Paul Allen – Mojave Aerospace Ventures
• Elon Musk - SpaceX
• John Carmack - Armadillo Aerospace
• Jeff Bezos - Blue Origin
• Robert Bigelow - Bigelow Aerospace
• Richard Branson - Virgin Galactic
21
SpaceX
22
Armadillo Aerospace
23
Bigelow Aerospace
24
Potential Hybrid Vehicles
XCOR Xerus Rocketplane XP
25
Scaled Composites/Virgin Galactic
• British entrepreneur Richard
Branson has signed an agreement
to license SpaceShipOne
technology
• Virgin Galactic plans to operate
a fleet of 5 vehicles
• Each will carry up to 7
passengers
• Price to be ~$200K per person
per flight
• Over 7,000 requests for initial
reservations received
• Operations to start in 2007
26
Is There a Market?
Futron recently conducted a Space Tourism Market
Study, based on a poll of affluent Americans.
Some of the results:
• Space Tourism could generate more than $1B per
year in revenues by 2021.
• Suborbital flights will constitute the biggest share,
with the potential for 15,000 passengers and $700M in
revenues per year.
• Orbital flights may include up to 60 passengers and
$300M in revenues per year.
27
What We Have Done to Prepare
• In February 2005 we issued Draft Guidelines for RLV Flight
Crew and Passengers
• We recently developed a Guide to RLV Operations and
Maintenance
•The FAA’s Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) has provided
support with research on recommended medical guidelines
• We meet regularly with our Commercial Space Transportation
Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) and its Working Groups to
identify issues and solicit their recommendations
• We have formed a Space and Air Traffic Management Board to
discuss integration with the National Airspace System, and have
developed a Concept of Operations for Reusable Launch Vehicles
28
Conclusions
• Development of a new segment of the aerospace
industry -- Commercial Human Space Flight --
appears to be well underway.
• Congress, through the Commercial Space Launch
Amendments Act, has challenged DOT and the FAA
to “encourage, facilitate, and promote” this new
activity in a way that continuously improves its safety.
• The FAA is committed to using a forward-looking,
corporate approach as our overall strategy to enable
this exciting new industry.
29
Who Wants to Go First?
30
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