{"id":999,"date":"2017-12-04T12:45:30","date_gmt":"2017-12-04T17:45:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/?p=999"},"modified":"2017-12-04T12:45:30","modified_gmt":"2017-12-04T17:45:30","slug":"space-elevator-andor-launch-vehicle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/04\/space-elevator-andor-launch-vehicle\/","title":{"rendered":"How About A Space Elevator and\/or a Launch Vehicle?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many years ago while still at the FAA I had a lovely chat with a fellow who was going to be on a legal panel about space elevators.\u00a0 He wanted to know what the FAA’s legal issues might be.\u00a0 Space elevators are not yet real, so our conversation was hypothetical and therefore more amusing than it might have been had we faced a live question.\u00a0 As it was, we came away figuring that if you put a space elevator in the United States the FAA could probably apply some airspace rules to your structure.\u00a0 As for the space regulations, we came away thinking maybe the elevator’s conductor would need a launch license.\u00a0 I’ve been thinking about suborbital rockets a lot lately, and I’m now wondering if we were wrong.<\/p>\n

First, what is a space elevator?\u00a0 The International Space Elevator Consortium<\/strong><\/a> has some answers.\u00a0 So, of course, does Wikipedia<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 For a totally cool picture, go here<\/strong><\/a>. The ISEC describes the structure as a vertical railroad into space.\u00a0 A cable, or tether, stretches from the equator on Earth to a counterweight beyond geostationary orbit.\u00a0 Centrifugal force keeps the tether taut.\u00a0 (Think of swinging a bucket of water in a circle around yourself.\u00a0 Do you remember the centrifugal force you felt?\u00a0 If you didn’t do this as a kid, now’s the time.\u00a0 Stay dry, my friend.)\u00a0 A space elevator may consist of a ground station to anchor the tether to the planet, electric climbing cars which can carry cargo and people to orbit, and a power source.<\/p>\n

Argument for FAA Launch License<\/strong>.\u00a0 Would a space elevator need an FAA launch license?\u00a0 It would if 51 U.S.C. ch. 509<\/strong><\/a> applied.\u00a0\u00a0 For Chapter 509 to apply, the elevator would have to be operated in the United States or by a U.S. citizen anywhere in the world, and its operation would have to constitute the launch of a launch vehicle or the reentry of a reentry vehicle.\u00a0 Given the need for putting the ground station and tether anchor at the equator, we likely won’t see a tether rising out of Texas.\u00a0 It is possible, however, that a U.S. citizen might operate a space elevator outside the United States.\u00a0 That would satisfy one of the eligibility criteria.<\/p>\n

Next, its operation would have to qualify as the launch of a launch vehicle.\u00a0 What does Chapter 509 have to say about the definition of launch and “launch vehicle”?\u00a0 According to 51 U.S.C. 50902, “launch means to place or try to place a launch vehicle or reentry vehicle and any payload or human being from Earth\u2014(A) in a suborbital trajectory, (B) in Earth orbit in outer space; or (C) otherwise in outer space.”\u00a0 The definition of “launch vehicle” matters, too.\u00a0 “Launch vehicle” means “(A) a vehicle built to operate in, or place a payload or human beings in, outer space; and (B) a suborbital rocket.”\u00a0 Arguably, the tether structure or maybe just the cars could constitute launch vehicles.\u00a0 They would place payloads or human beings in outer space.\u00a0 The launch would consist of the car’s ride up the tether to orbit.<\/p>\n

An American operator might also need an FAA reentry license.\u00a0 “Reenter” and “reentry” mean “to return or attempt to return, purposefully, a reentry vehicle and its payload or human beings, if any, from Earth orbit or from outer space to Earth.”\u00a0 If the elevator brought people and cargo back from geostationary orbit, we could call the activity a reentry.\u00a0 Is the elevator also a reentry vehicle?\u00a0 Section 50902 defines a “reentry vehicle” to mean “a vehicle designed to return from Earth orbit or outer space to Earth, or a reusable launch vehicle designed to return from Earth orbit or outer space to Earth, substantially intact.”\u00a0 The elevator, or at least its cars, is designed to return from Earth orbit substantially intact.\u00a0 If it qualifies as a launch vehicle, too, it could be called a reusable launch vehicle designed to return from Earth orbit substantially intact.\u00a0 As a reentering reentry vehicle, the operator might require an FAA reentry license.<\/p>\n

Why not an FAA launch license?<\/strong>\u00a0 When we analyze a statute, words mean what they mean.\u00a0 In reading the law, we eschew Humpty Dumpty’s approach<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 When Alice objects to the estimable egg’s definition of “glory” as “there’s a nice knock-down argument for you,” Lewis Carroll let’s us in on his reasoning:<\/p>\n

“When I<\/em> use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean- neither more nor less.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Lawyers shouldn’t follow Mr. Dumpty’s lead.\u00a0 Thus, when we look at the definition of “launch vehicle,” we see that there’s a small word that throws a spanner in the works of my earlier thinking.\u00a0 That word is “and”: \u00a0“Launch vehicle” means “(A) a vehicle built to operate in, or place a payload or human beings in, outer space; and<\/em> (B) a suborbital rocket.” (emphasis added).\u00a0 An ordinary expendable launch vehicle taking a satellite to orbit has a first stage.\u00a0 I suppose that could be the suborbital rocket for the ELV.\u00a0 But there’s no rocket on the space elevator.\u00a0 ISEC plans to use solar power.\u00a0 Sure, someone could add a rocket into a space elevator, but part of the logic behind the space elevator is to get away from rocket propulsion, so that doesn’t seem likely.\u00a0 Or smart.\u00a0 This brings us back to the “and.”\u00a0 Under the definition, a launch vehicle must both go to outer space and be a suborbital rocket.\u00a0 A space elevator would go to outer space, but it wouldn’t be a suborbital rocket. Had Congress intended rocket-less vehicles to require a license, it would have said “or” rather than “and.” Maybe the space elevator’s operation wouldn’t require a launch license.\u00a0 I suspect it could still need a reentry license.<\/p>\n

Those familiar with the FAA’s licensing practices will perhaps furrow their brows as they mentally review some of the launches the FAA has licensed.\u00a0 They might have been suborbital rockets, but not all of them went anywhere near outer space.\u00a0 We will leave the implications of all that as an exercise for the reader.<\/p>\n

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

Many years ago while still at the FAA I had a lovely chat with a fellow who was going to…<\/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-999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow About A Space Elevator and\/or a Launch Vehicle? - 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\/2017\/12\/04\/space-elevator-andor-launch-vehicle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How About A Space Elevator and\/or a Launch Vehicle? - Ground Based Space Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Many years ago while still at the FAA I had a lovely chat with a fellow who was going to…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/04\/space-elevator-andor-launch-vehicle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ground Based Space Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-12-04T17:45:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Laura Montgomery\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Laura Montgomery\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/04\/space-elevator-andor-launch-vehicle\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/04\/space-elevator-andor-launch-vehicle\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Laura Montgomery\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/03ef87affa9138c578663639f4af45be\"},\"headline\":\"How About A Space Elevator and\/or a Launch Vehicle?\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-04T17:45:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/04\/space-elevator-andor-launch-vehicle\/\"},\"wordCount\":1044,\"commentCount\":4,\"articleSection\":[\"uncategorized\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/04\/space-elevator-andor-launch-vehicle\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/04\/space-elevator-andor-launch-vehicle\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/04\/space-elevator-andor-launch-vehicle\/\",\"name\":\"How About A Space Elevator and\/or a Launch Vehicle? - Ground Based Space Matters\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-04T17:45:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/03ef87affa9138c578663639f4af45be\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/04\/space-elevator-andor-launch-vehicle\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/04\/space-elevator-andor-launch-vehicle\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/04\/space-elevator-andor-launch-vehicle\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How About A Space Elevator and\/or a Launch Vehicle?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/\",\"name\":\"Ground Based Space Matters\",\"description\":\"SPACE LAW AND POLICY\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/03ef87affa9138c578663639f4af45be\",\"name\":\"Laura Montgomery\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/17139e93c1e5d9ae1386274fba9dfaad5cfde444e9129ed54b43ba53c8ecb921?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/17139e93c1e5d9ae1386274fba9dfaad5cfde444e9129ed54b43ba53c8ecb921?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Laura Montgomery\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/author\/lmontgomery\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How About A Space Elevator and\/or a Launch Vehicle? - Ground Based Space Matters","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/04\/space-elevator-andor-launch-vehicle\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How About A Space Elevator and\/or a Launch Vehicle? - Ground Based Space Matters","og_description":"Many years ago while still at the FAA I had a lovely chat with a fellow who was going to…","og_url":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/04\/space-elevator-andor-launch-vehicle\/","og_site_name":"Ground Based Space Matters","article_published_time":"2017-12-04T17:45:30+00:00","author":"Laura Montgomery","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Laura Montgomery","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/04\/space-elevator-andor-launch-vehicle\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/04\/space-elevator-andor-launch-vehicle\/"},"author":{"name":"Laura Montgomery","@id":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/03ef87affa9138c578663639f4af45be"},"headline":"How About A Space Elevator and\/or a Launch Vehicle?","datePublished":"2017-12-04T17:45:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/04\/space-elevator-andor-launch-vehicle\/"},"wordCount":1044,"commentCount":4,"articleSection":["uncategorized"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/04\/space-elevator-andor-launch-vehicle\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/04\/space-elevator-andor-launch-vehicle\/","url":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/04\/space-elevator-andor-launch-vehicle\/","name":"How About A Space Elevator and\/or a Launch Vehicle? - Ground Based Space Matters","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-12-04T17:45:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/03ef87affa9138c578663639f4af45be"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/04\/space-elevator-andor-launch-vehicle\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/04\/space-elevator-andor-launch-vehicle\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/04\/space-elevator-andor-launch-vehicle\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How About A Space Elevator and\/or a Launch Vehicle?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/","name":"Ground Based Space Matters","description":"SPACE LAW AND POLICY","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/03ef87affa9138c578663639f4af45be","name":"Laura Montgomery","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/17139e93c1e5d9ae1386274fba9dfaad5cfde444e9129ed54b43ba53c8ecb921?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/17139e93c1e5d9ae1386274fba9dfaad5cfde444e9129ed54b43ba53c8ecb921?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Laura Montgomery"},"url":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/author\/lmontgomery\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7TWJG-g7","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=999"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1009,"href":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999\/revisions\/1009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}