{"id":1900,"date":"2019-03-21T10:57:59","date_gmt":"2019-03-21T14:57:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/?p=1900"},"modified":"2019-03-21T10:57:59","modified_gmt":"2019-03-21T14:57:59","slug":"spaceport-location-review-synergies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2019\/03\/21\/spaceport-location-review-synergies\/","title":{"rendered":"Spaceport Location Review Synergies"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A launch site operator may use a prospective launch operator’s risk assessment for its own FAA-required location review.<\/p>\n

Anyone who wants to operate a launch or reentry site (aka a “spaceport”)* in the United States needs a license from the Federal Aviation Administration.\u00a0 You may find the applicable launch site regulations at 14 C.F.R. part 420<\/strong><\/a> and the reentry site rules at 14 C.F.R. part 433<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 A license to operate a launch site\u00a0 authorizes a licensee to offer its launch site to a launch operator for each launch point for the type and any weight class of launch vehicle identified in the license application and upon which the licensing determination is based<\/p>\n

Among other requirements, such as submitting an explosive site plan and identifying foreign ownership, an applicant for a launch site license must satisfy the FAA’s location review.\u00a0 In its first notice of proposed rulemaking on launch sites, the FAA explained that it would use the\u00a0 location review to ensure that at least one flight corridor exists that may be used safely for a hypothetical launch.\u00a0 The location review consists of a simplified risk assessment, one of lower fidelity than what a launch operator must prepare for real launches.\u00a0 A risk assessment helps determine whether a launch or launch site is sufficiently isolated from the public that the risk of hurting anyone in the public satisfies the FAA’s risk thresholds.\u00a0 A site license applicant need not even use a real vehicle to pass the location review.\u00a0 If a launch site location cannot satisfy the risk thresholds for at least one small launch vehicle, the FAA will not issue a license to the launch site operator.<\/p>\n

In the final rule, the FAA explained<\/strong><\/a> that a site licensee need only obtain a modification to its FAA license for larger vehicles, different types of vehicle (e.g., orbital or suborbital), or new launch points.<\/p>\n

An applicant should, however, bear in mind that an FAA license to operate a launch site does not guarantee that a launch license would be issued for any particular launch proposed from that site. Accordingly, much of the decision making with respect to whether a particular site will be economically successful will rest, as it should, with a launch site operator, who will have to determine whether the site possesses sufficient flight corridors for economic viability.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What this means is that the FAA’s regulations do not assess everything that a spaceport operator must consider.\u00a0 For one thing, the spaceport must determine whether it has sufficient potential customers for a sustainable business model.\u00a0 Also, passing the FAA’s location review does not guarantee that any launch operator customer in particular will receive an FAA launch license.<\/p>\n

An applicant for a license to operate a launch site may satisfy the FAA’s location review using the risk assessment for a small vehicle.\u00a0 Later, if it wants approval for a larger vehicle because it has a customer with a larger launch vehicle, it can use that customer’s much more thorough risk assessment to apply for a modification to its site license.\u00a0 As the FAA itself has noted<\/strong><\/a>,<\/p>\n

Of course, if an applicant does have a customer who satisfies the FAA\u2019s flight safety criteria for launch and obtains a license for launch from the site, that showing would also demonstrate to the FAA that a launch may occur safely from the proposed site, and the FAA could issue a license to operate the launch site on the basis of the actual launch proposed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This useful piece of information means that a spaceport may use a customer’s risk assessment for the spaceport’s location review, not only for obtaining the original license but for a later modification.\u00a0 In other words, if a spaceport satisfied its original location review and received a license based on the risk associated with a small real or hypothetical launch vehicle, it could obtain a license modification based on the more precise risk assessment of an actual launch vehicle’s flight, even if that vehicle is larger than what the FAA first found acceptable.<\/p>\n

Things are different for reentry sites.\u00a0 There, the FAA takes a much more case-by-case approach.\u00a0 As usual with such approaches, it offers an applicant both greater flexibility and greater uncertainty.<\/p>\n

*Those of you who know the difference between a launch site and a launch operator may ignore this footnote, but I have learned over the years that the similarity in nomenclature can and will trip people up.\u00a0 A launch site is a location on Earth from which launches take place.\u00a0 It is often referred to as a spaceport, which term makes it easy to understand that a launch site is the space version of an airport.\u00a0 A launch operator is the space version of an airline, and is a person or entity who conducts the launch of a launch vehicle.\u00a0\u00a0 Companies such as Blue Origin, SpaceX, ULA, and Virgin Galactic are launch operators.\u00a0 A government agency such as NASA may be a launch operator, but be careful when figuring out who needs a license<\/strong><\/a> in that scenario.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A launch site operator may use a prospective launch operator’s risk assessment for its own FAA-required location review. Anyone who…<\/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":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[134,135,46],"class_list":["post-1900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-regulations","tag-risk-assessment","tag-spaceports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpaceport Location Review Synergies - 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\/2019\/03\/21\/spaceport-location-review-synergies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Spaceport Location Review Synergies - Ground Based Space Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A launch site operator may use a prospective launch operator’s risk assessment for its own FAA-required location review. 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