CSO 490 - Senior Design Project

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has the authority to issue a safety approval for one or more of the following safety elements: a launch vehicle, a reentry vehicle, a safety system, process, service, or any identified component thereof, and qualified and trained personnel performing a process or function related to licensed launch activities.

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires the Office of Commercial Space (AST) to integrate environmental values into its decision-making process. AST considers the environmental impacts of proposed actions and reasonable alternatives to those actions in order to make decisions based on an understanding of environmental consequences. AST takes actions that protect, restore, and enhance the environment. These actions are described in the FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation Environmental Policy.

This document informs holders of a license or permit under 51 U.S.C. Subtitle V, chapter 509 (“operators”), as well as applicants and prospective applicants for such licenses and permits, on an acceptable means of complying with the commercial space informed consent laws, including the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004, and its implementing regulations, namely, 14 CFR § 460.9 and § 460.45. It also compiles relevant legal interpretations and preamble to reduce the research burden associated with compliance.

As required by the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004, the FAA established Human Space Flight Requirements for Crew and Space Flight Participants, 71 FR 75616 (Dec.15,2006).

Since it was established in 1968, the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) has been evaluating NASA’s safety performance and advising the Agency on ways to improve that performance. The ASAP bases its advice on direct observation of NASA operations and decision-making. In the aftermath of the Shuttle Columbia accident, Congress required that the ASAP submit an annual report to the NASA Administrator and to Congress. The annual report is to examine NASA’s compliance with the recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB), as well as NASA’s management and culture related to safety.