{"id":2635,"date":"2020-03-17T15:21:13","date_gmt":"2020-03-17T19:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/?p=2635"},"modified":"2020-03-17T15:21:13","modified_gmt":"2020-03-17T19:21:13","slug":"government-astronauts-on-faa-licensed-suborbital-flights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/17\/government-astronauts-on-faa-licensed-suborbital-flights\/","title":{"rendered":"Government Astronauts on FAA-Licensed Suborbital Flights"},"content":{"rendered":"

I read with interest the story in Space News<\/a> about NASA considering sending up its astronauts on commercial, FAA-licensed suborbital flights.\u00a0 NASA’s administrator expressed some concern about whether NASA’s astronauts would have to sign waivers of liability. If the Administrator was referring to the liability waivers that the FAA requires space flight participants, such as space tourists to sign, he likely should not have cause for concern.\u00a0 Under the law Congress passed and that the FAA carries out, government astronauts should not have to waive claims against the United States government or the licensed launch or reentry operator even when the government astronauts are on board an FAA licensed launch or reentry vehicle.<\/p>\n

The law calls for “applicable parties” involved in launch or reentry services to sign such waivers.\u00a0 A\u00a0 look at section 50914 of Title 51 of the U.S. Code<\/a> shows that applicable parties do not include government astronauts.\u00a0 (I am only referencing the law that Congress passed because the FAA has not yet revised its regulations to catch up to the changes.\u00a0 Under the Constitution, Congress writes the laws and the FAA carries them out, so even though the FAA rules don’t yet address “government astronauts” the FAA is supposed to do what Congress says.)<\/p>\n

Who is a government astronaut?\u00a0 The 2015 definition of “government astronaut” means:<\/p>\n

an individual who\u2014<\/p>\n

(A) is designated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under section 20113(n);<\/p>\n

(B) is carried within a launch vehicle or reentry vehicle in the course of his or her employment, which may include performance of activities directly relating to the launch, reentry, or other operation of the launch vehicle or reentry vehicle; and<\/p>\n

(C) is either\u2014<\/p>\n

(i) an employee of the United States Government, including the uniformed services, engaged in the performance of a Federal function under authority of law or an Executive act; or<\/p>\n

(ii) an international partner astronaut.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What if a government astronaut is on a suborbital vehicle?\u00a0 The definition of launch vehicle also includes suborbital launch vehicles under 51 USC 50902:<\/p>\n

\n

(11) “launch vehicle means\u2014<\/p>\n

(A) a vehicle built to operate in, or place a payload or human beings in, outer space; and<\/p>\n

(B) a suborbital rocket.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The FAA has long taken the position that suborbital rockets are launch vehicles. \u00a0 Thus, if a government astronaut is carried within a launch or reentry vehicle in the course of his or her employment, they appear not to have to sign a waiver of liability.\u00a0 Even before the passage of the 2015 amendments containing the definition of “government astronaut,” the FAA held that view.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I read with interest the story in Space News about NASA considering sending up its astronauts on commercial, FAA-licensed suborbital…<\/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":[64,121,152],"class_list":["post-2635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-financial-responsibility","tag-government-astronauts","tag-waivers"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nGovernment Astronauts on FAA-Licensed Suborbital Flights - 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