{"id":281,"date":"2017-01-13T08:00:47","date_gmt":"2017-01-13T13:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/?p=281"},"modified":"2017-01-12T13:31:53","modified_gmt":"2017-01-12T18:31:53","slug":"launcher-one-environmental-assessment-available-for-public-comment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2017\/01\/13\/launcher-one-environmental-assessment-available-for-public-comment\/","title":{"rendered":"Launcher One Environmental Assessment Available for Public Comment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gpo.gov\/fdsys\/pkg\/FR-2017-01-12\/pdf\/2017-00549.pdf\">The FAA yesterday released a notice <\/a>of availability of a draft environmental assessment for licensing LauncherOne&#8217;s launches.\u00a0 As described by the FAA,<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"213.97652058823527\">The FAA is evaluating LauncherOne LLC\u2019s (L1\u2019s) proposal to launch the LauncherOne at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Kern County, California, for purposes of transporting small satellites into a variety of Low Earth Orbits. The launch system consists of the rocket (LauncherOne) and a carrier aircraft (Boeing 747). To operate LauncherOne at the Mojave Air and Space Port, L1 must obtain a launch license from the FAA. Issuing a license is considered a major Federal action subject to environmental review under NEPA[, the National Environmental Policy Act].<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"213.97652058823527\">There are interesting points in this notice:<\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"213.97652058823527\"><\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"213.97652058823527\"><strong>Orbital launches<\/strong>:\u00a0 The notice shows that the FAA is contemplating expanding the scope of the spaceport license for Mojave Air and Spaceport to include orbital launches.<\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"213.97652058823527\"><\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"213.97652058823527\"><strong>Reusability<\/strong>:\u00a0 The FAA characterizes L1&#8217;s launch system as reusable.<\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"213.97652058823527\"><\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"213.97652058823527\"><strong>Scope of license<\/strong>:\u00a0 Although the notice reads as if the space license would only cover the rocket and not the aircraft, one would expect, as with past launch systems consisting of a carrier aircraft and a rocket, the FAA&#8217;s launch license to cover both the flight of the 747 and the rocket on the days when L1 fires the rocket.\u00a0 If L1 flies the 747 without the rocket attached or even conducts captive carriage tests with the rocket attached, the activity would take place under the aviation regulations, not the space regulations.\u00a0 However, we may expect the FAA space license to apply to the flight of both the 747 and the rocket based on its approach to licensing Orbital Science&#8217;s (now Orbital ATK&#8217;s) launch system, which consisted of a Pegasus rocket and an L-1011 carrier aircraft, and Scaled Composites&#8217; White Knights One and Two carrier aircraft and its SpaceShip rockets.<\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"213.97652058823527\"><\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"213.97652058823527\">The draft environmental assessment itself may be found <a href=\"https:\/\/www.faa.gov\/about\/office_org\/headquarters_offices\/ast\/environmental\/nepa_docs\/review\/launch\/media\/LauncherOne_Draft_EA.final.pdf\">here<\/a>, and <strong>comments are due<\/strong> February 13, 2017.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The FAA yesterday released a notice of availability of a draft environmental assessment for licensing LauncherOne&#8217;s launches.\u00a0 As described by&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":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - 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