The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has established a new advisory committee that could have major implications for commercial human spaceflight companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic.
The Human Space Flight Occupant Safety Aerospace Rulemaking Committee (SpARC) was formed on April 21, 2023 with the purpose of providing recommendations to the FAA on establishing safety regulations for commercial human spaceflight. This comes ahead of the upcoming October 1, 2023 expiration of limits on the FAA’s ability to regulate design and operations of commercial human space vehicles.
The SpARC consists of industry representatives from commercial spaceflight operators, training providers, research groups, customers, flight participants, safety experts, industry groups, and academia. It will be co-chaired by an FAA official and an industry representative.
The committee has been tasked with providing consensus recommendations within 12 months on the scope, costs, and framework for new FAA regulations aimed at protecting passenger safety on commercial human spaceflights. The recommendations will be used by the FAA as it prepares to exert full regulatory authority after the longstanding “learning period” for the industry put in place by Congress comes to an end.
This could have major implications for companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic that are currently developing or operating vehicles for commercial human spaceflight. The new regulations will likely impact vehicle design and flight operations procedures as companies scale up suborbital and orbital space tourism flights.
Requirements may be implemented regarding space vehicle architecture, life support systems, crew training procedures, and more based on the SpARC’s recommendations. This could lead to significant compliance costs for operators as they work to meet the FAA’s new safety standards.
However, the SpARC provides an opportunity for industry input on crafting reasonable, performance-based regulations. The companies actively flying and building human spaceflight vehicles have valuable real-world expertise that can help shape effective rules that balance safety and innovation.
While additional operating costs and certification hurdles are expected, the SpARC’s goal is ultimately to provide a framework that enables safe, successful commercial human spaceflight as the industry continues maturing. The FAA will review the committee’s recommendations as it charts the regulatory path forward for this exciting sector.
