Commercial Space Transportation

Space travel. The last frontier. From mystical dreams to conspiracy theories, space has held the awe and attention of people world-wide ever since the space race began. As these dreams start to become more attainable, commercial space tourism became a rapidly growing industry in the hopes that there would be an ease of traveling to the moon as there is to go to the bus stop and get across town. While we now see how far space travel has come, to truly understand it, we must understand where it comes from. Peter Wainwright, who discusses the long and somewhat bumpy past of commercial space travel, has recorded several of noteworthy events along the space travel quest. In my opinion, one of the first major accomplishments was “First of a series of papers on 2STO HTOL vehicles for space tourism published by David Ashford of Bristol Spaceplanes in England” (Wainwright, n.d.). This event shows that the science community was taking the possible space tourism industry more seriously. This was also around the time in 1984 when the commercial space launch act was being signed into law as an executive order (FAA, n.d.). This is our second noteworthy stop as it shows the governments concern of the necessity for oversight of a new industry. Our third landing is when “The first market research survey on space tourism was performed. 3030 people in Japan answered a written questionnaire, showing that the concept is extremely popular - the results are discussed in "Potential Demand for Passenger Travel to orbit" and also "Commercial Implications of Market Research on Space Tourism" (Wainwright, n.d.) This was in 1993 and while the data itself was rather limited and also farther back in the race for commercial space tourism, it still shows a gathering interest and a push from the public to pursue this wild fantasy. Our fourth stop comes from the point in 1995 when the FAA took over the monitor and oversight of the new commercial space transportation office to give guidance on the possibility of space travel for civilians (Wainwright, n.d.). Our final stop, but not the end of commercial space accomplishments, shows a more governmental involvement with NASA announcing a 900 million-dollar 3-year contract with Lockheed martin to develop a reusable unmanned rocket of super speed capabilities (Wainwright, n.d.). With the government involvement of such a contract, it is clearly shown that the commercial space race is very much alive and continues to pursue a path for all to see the wonders of space.

It is easy to see how such a new and experimental industry could be very hard to regulate without thwarting the ability for the industry to expand. The 1984 Commercial Space Launch Act placed the office of the commercial space transportation under the department of transportation and FAA to give them power of oversight and promotion responsibilities of commercial space transportation operations in the united states of by U.S. companies (FAA, n.d.). Since that point, the FAA has made several regulations to put some number of boundaries on the industry to protect the people both in and near the launch sites and all other affected operations. A summary of these regulations starts with Applicability and goes into policies such as fares and affecting air traffic already in the sky (14 CRF Part 400-460, n.d.). The regulations themselves are very broadly brushed and as experiments take place, more restrictions may come about. There is, however, the chance that new regulations may only be written after failures have occurred.

I think that eventually, as we populate the earth and living becomes harder to bear, the wealthiest of society will be the first to have the possibility of commercial space travel. I would even go so far as to say that we are nearly at the point with the technology that we would be able to send people on short trips, however the idea of a long inter-stellar flight is a little far fetched for me to willingly believe, at least in my life time. I would like to think that with the possibility of private funding, and possibly as a prize for some kind of contest, a few select people will be able to make the trip to space for a brief time. According to a statistical sheet by the FAA of known rocket launch costs and capabilities for pay load from around the world, there are very little rockets that have a useful payload below 20 million dollars, and most rockets in the U.S. require hundreds of millions of dollars to launch! (FAA, 2017). Until they are able to bring those prices down, there will be no ability for most of the population to be able to travel in space. 

Some have had dreams of becoming an astronaut at one point or another, and I have also had that wonder as well. Being one of the most untouched places in the universe, space holds so much majesty and raw excitement that he qualifications must be steep. According to NASA “The military selected the first astronauts in 1959. They had to have flight experience in jet aircraft and a background in engineering. And they had to be shorter than 5 feet 11 inches – to fit in the Mercury spacecraft” (NASA, 2017). Furthermore, they also looked for people with experience and degrees in medicine and engineering (NASA, 2017). On a more current trend, NASA is looking for

“A bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science, computer science or mathematics. At least three years of related professional experience obtained after degree completion OR at least 1,000 hours pilot-in-command time on jet aircraft. The ability to pass the NASA long-duration astronaut physical. Distant and near visual acuity must be correctable to 20/20 for each eye. The use of glasses is acceptable” (NASA, 2017.)

Finally, NASA states that they will pick applicants for skills in things such as communication and leadership. After an intense interview session and 2 years of physical and mental training, you are ready to call yourself an astronaut and sail the stars!

References

14 CFR Part 400-460. (n.d.) Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. Retrieved from  https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/retrieveECFR?gp=&SID=a70663f170287171edaecbcac14113a9&mc=true&r=PART&n=pt14.4.399 

FAA. (2017, January). The Annual Compendium of Commercial Space Transportation: 2017. Retrieved from https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/media/FAA_AST_2017_Commercial_Space_Transportation_Compendium.pdf. Retrieved from https://www.faa.gov 

FAA. (n.d.) Office of Commercial Space Transportation Regulations. Retrieved from https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/regulations/

NASA. (2017, July 21). Astronaut Requirements. Retrieved from https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/postsecondary/features/F_Astronaut_Requirements.html

Wainwright, P. (n.d.). Space Tourism - The Story So Far. Retrieved from http://www.spacefuture.com/tourism/timeline.shtml