Federal Register: FAA Waiver of Acceptable Mission Risk Restriction for Reentry and a Reentry Vehicle (SpaceX Dragon)

December 7, 2010 at 11:02 am | Posted in Space Law | Leave a comment

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

The FAA published an FAA Waiver of Acceptable Mission Risk Restriction for Reentry and a Reentry Vehicle (SpaceX Dragon) (PDF) in Monday’s Federal Register (75 Fed. Reg. 75619-75621):

SUMMARY: This notice of waiver concerns two petitions for waiver submitted to the FAA by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX): A petition to waive the requirement that a waiver petition be submitted at least sixty days before the proposed effective date; and a petition to waive the restriction that the combined risk to the public from the launch and reentry of a reentry vehicle not exceed an expected average number of 0.00003 casualties (Ec <= 30 x 10-6) from debris. The first petition is unnecessary because, as explained below, SpaceX demonstrated good cause for its late filing. The FAA grants the second petition and waives the restriction that the combined risk to the public from the launch and reentry of a reentry vehicle not exceed an expected average number of 0.00003 casualties (Ec <= 30 x 10-6) from debris.