{"id":103,"date":"2016-09-09T00:56:02","date_gmt":"2016-09-09T00:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/?p=103"},"modified":"2019-01-12T17:18:39","modified_gmt":"2019-01-12T22:18:39","slug":"spaceports-as-contractors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2016\/09\/09\/spaceports-as-contractors\/","title":{"rendered":"Spaceports as Contractors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Spaceports are contractors. Not all spaceports are always contractors in all respects, but a lot of them are a lot of the time. If a spaceport is a contractor it has to enter into agreements with the launch operators launching from its site.\u00a0 They have to agree that neither the spaceport nor the launch operator will bring claims for damages against the other for harm arising out of licensed or permitted activity.<\/p>\n<p>Under the Commercial Space Launch Act, 51 U.S.C. ch. 509, and its implementing financial responsibility regulations,14 C.F.R. part 440, a launch licensee or permittee must enter into reciprocal waivers of claims with each of its contractors involved in launch or reentry services. Chapter 509 defines launch and reentry services as activities involved in the preparation of a launch or reentry vehicle, payload, crew (including crew training), government astronaut, or space flight participant for launch or reentry; and the conduct of a launch or reentry.<\/p>\n<p>Spaceports\u2014which Chapter 509 terms launch and reentry sites, but I\u2019ll use the vernacular here\u2014satisfy the definition of a contractor under 14 C.F.R. \u00a7 440.3.\u00a0 That section defines contractors to mean those entities that are involved at any level, directly or indirectly, in licensed or permitted activities, and include suppliers of property and services. Spaceports provide property and services, including launch pads, runways and launch services. Some spaceport business models allow for providing support services for payload integration, fueling, hot fire testing, and range safety. The FAA\u2019s regulations in part 420 require spaceports that are launch site operators to coordinate their customers&#8217; hazardous activities. A number of these coordination activities, including the scheduling of operations and notifications, may constitute launch services.\u00a0 [UPDATE 1\/12\/19 with the following quote] The FAA has long recognized that spaceports are contractors to launch operators, noting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.govinfo.gov\/content\/pkg\/FR-1998-08-26\/pdf\/98-22728.pdf\"><strong>in 1998<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"\">\n<p>In the agency\u2019s view, a licensed launch site operator would obtain the benefits and responsibilities <em>of a contractor to the launch licensee as a provider of launch property and services<\/em>. The recently concluded memorandum of agreement between the Department of Defense, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the FAA reflects this approach to risk allocation for licensed commercial launch site operators.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><em>Financial Responsibility Requirements for Licensed Launch Activities<\/em>, 63 Fed. Reg. 45592, 45594 (Aug. 26, 1998)(emphasis added).<\/p>\n<p>The financial responsibility requirements apply both to commercial and state spaceports. Under Chapter 509, the only spaceports that the FAA does not license are those operated by the federal government. Accordingly, both commercial and state spaceports need to be aware of their obligations under Chapter 509 and the FAA\u2019s financial responsibility regulations.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Spaceports are contractors. Not all spaceports are always contractors in all respects, but a lot of them are a lot&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[47,49,48,46],"class_list":["post-103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-contractors","tag-cross-waivers","tag-financial-responsiblity","tag-spaceports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Spaceports as Contractors - Ground Based Space Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2016\/09\/09\/spaceports-as-contractors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Spaceports as Contractors - Ground Based Space Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Spaceports are contractors. 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