The United States' Commitment to Commercial Space Operations
The national space doctrine of the United States of America serves as a crucial foundational principle for comprehending the country's new and enduring commitment to commercial space operations. It has been decided that a strong and fiercely competitive commercial space industry is essential to the ongoing development of space activities. The country is committed to promoting and facilitating the ongoing expansion of the commercial space sector in the United States so that it can support the needs of the country, be competitive globally, and advance the creation of new markets and innovation-driven entrepreneurship. However, the fundamental objectives of this new policy are to empower as well as encouraging competitive domestics industries to participate in the global markets and advancing the development of the satellite manufacturing, space launch, and satellite based services, and terrestrial applications. However, before any launching activities occur there must be a consideration for the commercial space launch market. The colossal aerospace corporation has been a major player in the space launch market, and it has helped lower the cost of ferrying scientist as well as objects into space. The company provides technical and scientific expertise for the manufacturing and creation of commercial space vehicle (Hubbard et al., 2013).
The Colossal Aerospace Corporation and Its Role in the Space Launch Market
The colossal aerospace corporation has its headquarters in EL Segundo, California. The majority of the employees are in the technical section. The company has provided the technical as well as scientific exploration development and consultative services to the national security space (NSS) programs. The research centers which are operated by the organization are funded by the United States government that has the primary purpose of investigating for the USA Air Force Interstellar together with the Missile Systems Center (SMC). More so, the corporation has approximately 60 years’ involvement in a space system, and it is applying to the project in the national significance for the federal agencies such as NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Profitable companies and global organization. The enterprise has had the liberty to participate in every single National security space program since the start of the space era. The involvement of the organization in the space launch market has drastically reduced the risk of launch failure as well as increasing the satellite endurance and boosted performance. The air force launch vehicle together with the satellite performance has succeeded therefore it cannot be matched by any other space programs by other companies (Hubbard et al., 2013).
Laws and Regulations Governing the Commercial Space Market
Despite the success rate of the colossal aerospace corporation, the commercial space launch has to follow some rules and regulation. The federal law regulates the commercial space launch market. Therefore, for any launch of a space vehicle into space, it has to follow the rule and regulation as provided by the treaty of the commercial space activities. The paper will describe the laws and regulations governing the commercial space market as well as activities. We will look at the international legislation and treaties, which includes the “Outer Space Treaty” and the International Liability Convention for the nation’s space activities. They are undertaken by the way launch vehicle or rather payloads which are launched for the United States territories and the private commercial organization that are in existence under the federal laws (Hubbard et al., 2013).
National Policy and Legal Framework
The United States statues can be described as a collection of legislations that are passed by the Congress of the United States in chronological order. The commercial space activities that are done in the United States territories by either a government entity or a private sector, they have to be regulated according to the international law and treaty. Therefore, the United States has to meet the responsibilities of the right frames work instigated by the agreement of the Outer space together with the International Liability Convention. The government of the United States used three different ways of meeting its responsibilities for the activities related to space, which are undertaken by the private companies. The federal government regulates such activities in a manner that offers protection to the significant national interest of the country, which includes the security of the nation, public safety as well as the foreign policy (Reaven, 2016). The authority of the United States in regulation of the private commercial space activities is plenary and originates from the primary sources which include the Article VI of the United States constitution. It incorporates the international treaties into the US municipal law and Article VIII of the Treaty of the Outer space that requires a nation on which an objective launch is carried to maintain the authority and control over the spacecraft as well as all the personnel while in the interstellar or on a heavenly body. It is important to consider the various municipal statutes that apply to different aspects of space vehicle together with the payload launches. It simply shows the way in which the interests of bodies of the governments are asserted. All the elements have the statutory ground for the government to provide the authorization and continuous supervision of the commercial space activities, which are undertaken by a private organization related to the federal responsibilities under the Article VI of the Treaty. Hence, the government of the United States has been given the rights and obligation under both the municipal law together with the treaty of the outer space in the determination of the nature and scope of the authority and supervision of the activities provided. Among the civil law, we have the Commercial Space Launch Act (CSLA), which was enacted in 1982. A civil code that was promulgated by the Congress to facilitate the commercialization of the space activities as well as the technology. The primary objectives of the law are to regulate and oversee commercial launches by issuing permits and licenses as well as the promotion of safety standards (Reaven, 2016).
Regulation of Commercial Space Transport
The urgency that is responsible for promulgating as well as enforcing aviation safety regulation in the National Air System is the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The CSLA led to the creation of the Bureau of the commercial interstellar transportation, which falls inside the department of transportation's office of the secretary, which has the authority to license commercial space launches. However, the OCST was transformed into the FAA. The Commercial Space Launch Act established the FAA in charge of the two clear as well as distinguishable regulatory missions. The mission of aviation safety and the Commercial Space Transportation. However, the regulatory approach of the FAA is very different since the two activities, which are air transport as well as the space launch, have quite a significant distinction. The urgency regulates various entities to ensure the aviation safety. The FAA regulates as well as certificates the aircraft, which is considered as any device that can sustain the flight through the air. More so, it provides certification of the mechanics, aviators, and airports. It also promulgates the air traffic control as well as general operation rules for manned and unmanned free balloons, amateur rockets, aircraft, ultralight vehicles. For an entity to become certificated, the urgency administrator provides a certificate when the applicant complies with applicable design, acceptable standards, and performance in the regulation. The regulation has an intention to provide the level of safety required to protect the other aircraft and individuals in the air as well as on the ground (Murray et al., 2013).
Authorization and Regulation Agencies for Commercial Space Launch
Currently, different agencies in the USA are involved in the authorization of commercial space launch. NASA and the Department of Defense (DOD) determine and authorize the site of launching, while on the other hand, the FAA navigates the airspace and traffic regulation. Furthermore, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) has the regulatory mandate over the on-orbit spectrum as well as the orbits slots. The Department of Energy (DOE) regulates the use of nuclear materials in the satellite payloads or rather satellite propulsion. Moreover, the Department of Commerce (DOC) enforces the import/export regulations on launch and the technologies entailed in the satellite. The Department of State (DOS) has the responsibility to ensure compliance with the international agreements on the use of outer stellar. With all the agencies that are in place to guarantee the security of the commercial space activities. However, the CSLA provides the mandate that the FAA act as the primary federal agency, which is responsible for licensing commercial space launch activities, which entails licensing of the launch, the operators of the launch site, and the operation of reentry sites (Murray et al., 2013).
Permit for Spaceports
There are various space launch sites, which are available for the commercial launches in the nation. The two public sites that are mostly used are Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida that shares the land with Kennedy Space Center and the Vandenberg Air Force Base located in California. However, the process of permit allocation to the launch site for commercial space activities is different for the government and private sector. The Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984 gave authority to the secretary of transportation to license a launch as well as the operation of the launching site that is done by either an American citizen or within the United states. However, the Federal Aviation Administration has been provided with the mandate to license the commercial space. The licensing of the launch site and the dispensing of temporary permits for the recyclable suborbital skyrocket are civic activities that are subject to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The FAA does an analysis of the appropriate conservational forms that NEPA requires as part of the procedure. NEPA reviews are based on three broad levels that include Environmental Assessment, Environmental Impact Statement, and the Categorical Exclusion (Reaven, 2016).
Federal Launch Sites (Cape Canaveral Spaceport)
An EA document has to be generated first. The EA determines if the proposed action has the potential to affect the environment. If there is an indication that the launch site will not have any significant impact on the environment, then FAA officials will have to prepare a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). The document provides the ground on which the FAA determines that the launch site will not have potential environmental impacts. However, the FONSI does not show or indicate the proposed action. With the clearance of the NEPA, it gives them the green light to continue, and thus they will receive certification as a result (Reaven, 2016).
Private Launch Site
With the proposed launch site on Matagorda Island in Texas, the company has to obtain the experimental launch permit for the development of the site. In addition to the certification that is awarded by the FAA as per the regulation of the National Environmental Policy Act, the organization has to obtain approval from the various state agencies, among them, the Texas Department of Transportation, for them to be allowed to build new roads as well as the utility lines. Therefore, they will require certification by the specification of these agencies (Reaven, 2016).
Procedures for the Launch of NASA Unmanned and Manned Payloads
The initial step is in the development of integrated systems for the payloads belonging to the user firm. The organization remains the request for flight assignment sheet I628 to NASA HQs located in Washington. After the approval of the application, a series of actions are set in motion that leads to space flight. The activities entail the ratification of the launch service agreement, creation of the payload incorporation plans, safety analysis, and preparation of the engineering designs. The final process is the actual assignment, spaceship disposition or trial activity and the completion of data examination and dissemination. The most critical stages of the procedures are the generation of the formal agreement and the implementation of these agreements between the user and NASA. However, other factors to be considered include the payload integration planning which involves the safety reviews of all the stages of a mission. More so all the preparation are examined by NASA safety board operating with the user to explore the intricacy, technical development, and hazard possibility of an own freight and mission strategy (Reaven, 2016).
Export Regulation
The directorate of the defense trade control under the federal state department of state is in a position to administer the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The specific items that are subjected to under the jurisdiction of the International Traffic in Arms Regulation which are the defense article, as well as the security services, are identified on the United States Munitions List (USML). However, some few items are which are not subjected to the jurisdiction of the ITAR are submitted to the Export Administration Regulations that include the commercial regulation list which is in supplement number 1 to part 774 that is administered by the bureau of industry and security. Therefore, both the International Trade Arms Regulation and the Export Administration Regulation impose license requirements on the exports, reexports, and the retransfers. Consequently, the items, which are not subjected to the jurisdiction of the International, trade Arms Regulation hence they become subject to the Export Administration Regulation. It follows that all references to the USML in the rule are according to the list of the defense article managed for the primary purpose of export pursuant to the ITAR, but not to the defense article. That article is under management by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives which bases mainly on permanent imports under its jurisdiction (Nield et al., 2013).
Insurance in Commercial Space Activities
For the commercial space operators to obtain insurance is an imminent space industry practice and a constitutional obligation under the Commercial Space Launch Act. Therefore, the satellite purchase, as well as the launch providers, must agree to a reciprocal relinquishment of liability and danger for death, injury, and destruction of property that their employees may suffer due to the launch. The law just means that the launch providers will not be held liable by the satellite customers in the case of launch failure and property loss (Nield et al., 2013).
Third-Party Liability Insurance
It is the requirement of the United States Constitution for the launch provider to acquire third-party liability insurance for covering the launch. It offers protection to the clients, the providers as well as the contractors and subcontractors of the respective parties who participate in the launch. It comes in handy in cases where the launch craft crashes or rather goes off course and as a result leads to death or bodily harm. However, the claims have been made rare by the presence of systems that are capable of terminating the flight as well as the use of trajectories over areas which are not densely populated. By the US laws, the FAA specifies that the amount of insurance to be provided is calculated based on the maximum possible loss valuation. Nonetheless, the requirement of the insurance depends on the launch vehicle, site or trajectory. Although the various factors determine the amount of coverage, it cannot surpass $500 million. The price is much lower in a real application, and the maximum value is $264,000,000. Also, the provider of the launch is supposed to name the contractors, subcontractors, clients, US government and their agencies as additional insured (Nield et al., 2013).
Launch Risk Guarantee Insurance
It has become common for operators to consider taking property insurance for the loss as well as the destruction of a spaceship while launching and at least during the first year in orbit. The in-orbit insurance is supposed to be renewed after every year, but the insurers do renewal only after evaluation of the condition of the satellite. Both the space launch together with the in-orbit insurance covers the satellite, the cost of the launch, and the premium. The global space insurance market is tasked to provide the coverage. The insured amount is usually large. For instance, in the case of a commercial communication satellite, the insurance cost may be $200 million or more. The interstellar insurance plans are agreed-value schemes. The payments done under the scheme are under the terms, rules, conditions, and segregation of the policy. In case the plan is subject to the nation's laws, then it becomes a common law, and therefore the insurance statutes of the state which has been chosen will apply to the clarification of the policy (Murray et al., 2013).
Liability Insurance
Some of the tourists who have toured the International Space Station (ISS) were required to use their insurance since the Commercial Space Launch Act cannot be applied to the ISS launches (Frans, 2013).
Protection of the State Flight Operators from Liability
The primary purpose of the adoption of the legislations was to attempt to immunize the space flight operators from liability, which is in a bid to encourage human space tourism. The bill has the only aim of liberating flight engineers from the claims by the participants in the flights for injuries as well as damages caused because of the risks of the activities relating to the space flight. However, the bill will not cover those operators who cause injuries or damages because of willful misconduct or negligence. More so, all the decrees require the participants in the flight to sign a warning statement (Frans, 2013).
Federal Agencies Responsible for Investigation of Mishaps and Accidents
The main national body that is responsible for the prevention and investigation in the case of accidents or disasters is the FAA along with the offices of the Commercial Space Transport. They provide the investigation of the accidents, which are related to the FAA licensed as well as permitted operations. However, the investigation includes that office of accident from the FAA agency, the launch site operators, and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The process will involve the FAA providing the government oversight of the accident investigation, therefore ensuring that it goes by the terms of the operator's investigation plans approved by the FAA as well as the regulatory requirements of the agency. The operator then provides a report to the FAA, which authorizes any regulation of the basis of disaster and the counteractive actions to be considered in the interest of safety to the public. However, when an accident occurs, the FAA goes under a voluntary agreement with the NTSB. The NTSB is in the control of the investigation with the support of FAA. The investigations entail the standard NTSB procedures and protocols. However, the FAA being the overall body has to review it as well as support any curative measures that have to be taken while considering the safety of the public before the spacecraft is endorsed to resume flight (Frans, 2013).
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
The organization was formed in 1944 upon the signing of the Chicago convention that also acts as the constitution of the international civil aviation organization. The organization serves as an expert body of the United Nations, which has been granted the command to guarantee harmless, competent and organized evolution of the international civil aviation. The organization has three sections, which make it possible for the operation. The sections are the assembly that is composed of the contracting states, the council, which is made up of thirty-six states, and finally the secretariat (Knoch, 2014).
Reference
Frans, G. (2013). The integrated approach—Regulating private human spaceflight as space activity, aircraft operation, and high-risk adventure tourism. Acta Astronautica, 92(2), 199-208.
Hubbard, M. S., Davidian, P. K., Isakowitz, S., Logsdon, J., McMurry, J. R., Nield, G., & Smith, M. S. (2013). Growing the future of commercial space.
Knoch, U. (2014). Using subject specialists to validate an ESP rating scale: The case of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) rating scale. English for Specific Purposes, 33, 77-86.
Murray, D. P. (2013). The FAA's current approach to integrating commercial space operations into the National Airspace System. Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, DC.
Nield, G. C., Touré, M., Sloan, J., & Gerlach, D. (2013). Certification versus licensing for human spaceflight in commercial space transportation. New Space, 1(1), 46-50.
Reaven, E. (2016). The United States commercial space launch competitiveness act: The creation of private space property rights and the omission of the right to freedom from harmful interference. Wash. UL Rev., 94, 233.
