By 
September 5th, 2020
Virgin Galactic’s suborbital plans involve toting well-dressed space travelers into near space, perhaps starting early next year.
Credit: Virgin Galactic/Quasar Media 2018
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has issued The Future of Space Tourism, taking a look at a variety of issues that will shape the promise of public space travel.
Diving into the history and development of the space tourism sector, the report spotlights new entrants, such as Virgin Galactic, SpaceX, Blue Origin, and the high-altitude balloon concept offered by Space Perspective.
Credit: Space Perspective
The CRS is a nonpartisan, shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress that reviews a host of topics.
Safety of launch vehicles
“At present, the U.S. government has no procedures for certifying the safety of launch vehicles for tourist passengers,” the CRS document explains. Flagged in the report is that launch providers must receive a license for their rockets from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), “but this licensing process addresses propulsion and trajectory aspects of spaceflight missions and public safety on the ground rather than passenger safety.”
Blue Origin’s crew capsule – a suborbital six-seater craft.
Credit: Blue Origin
For flights with passengers, the report notes, “FAA requires crew and pilots of commercial spaceflight vehicles to meet certain training and medical standards, but it has no standards applicable to passengers.”
Considerations for Congress
The CRS report offers a set of “considerations for Congress,” such as the Congress may want to consider whether the law restricting FAA’s authority to regulate the safety of commercial spacecraft with humans onboard “should be extended, lifted, or allowed to expire in phases.”
Virgin Galactic pilot Todd Ericson and NTSB investigators at SpaceShipTwo accident site. Craft broke apart during a test flight on October, 31, 2014.
Credit: NTSB
Congress has supported the development of voluntary safety standards by industry, interagency working groups, and the aerospace medical community, with the CRS report saying they may want to consider whether the federal government should adopt such standards as regulations.
The CRS report, written by Alyssa K. King, an analyst in transportation policy, also looks at medical concerns for spaceflight participants as well as how best to handle accident investigations.
To review the full report — The Future of Space Tourism – go to:
Posted in Space News
