[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 208 (Friday, October 26, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65443-65444]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-26328]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration


Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee--Public 
Teleconference

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee 
Teleconference.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee 
Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 5 U.S.C. App. 2), notice is hereby given of three 
teleconferences of the Systems Working Group of the Commercial Space 
Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC). The teleconferences will 
take place on: Tuesday November 13, 2012, Tuesday December 18, 2012, 
and Tuesday January 15, 2013. All teleconferences will begin at 1:00 
p.m. Eastern Standard Time and will last approximately one hour. 
Individuals who plan to participate should contact Paul Eckert, 
Designated Federal Officer (DFO), (the Contact Person listed below) by 
phone or email for the teleconference call-in number.
    The purpose of these three teleconferences is to assist the FAA 
early in its development of regulations to protect occupants of 
commercial suborbital and orbital spacecraft. In a Federal Register 
notice dated July 30, 2012, the FAA announced its desire to engage with 
COMSTAC on a periodic basis, approximately once per month, on specific 
topics. The three teleconferences announced today are a continuation of 
the three announced in July.
    As we noted in the July Federal Register notice, the FAA has not 
yet targeted a date for proposing regulations to protect the health and 
safety of crew and space flight participants. However, the FAA believes 
that the development of sound and appropriate regulations for human 
space flight can only be achieved with a deliberate, multi-year effort, 
and that early industry input into this regulatory effort before any 
formal proposal by the FAA is critical.
    The topics for the first three teleconferences were: (1) What Level 
of Safety Should FAA Target? (2) What Should FAA Oversight Look Like? 
and (3) What Types of Requirements and Associated Guidance Material 
Should FAA Develop? The topics for three follow-on teleconferences are 
as follows:
    (1) Key Terms and Definitions for Commercial Human Space Flight 
Safety Regulations. We would like to discuss key terms and definitions 
relevant to commercial human spaceflight regulations, and characterize 
their potential impacts to the various parties who have a vested 
interest in the industry. Terms that will be discussed include:
    a. Abort.
    b. Contingency.
    c. Emergency.
    d. Early Flight Return.
    e. Landing Site.
    (2) Aborts and Abort Systems. Abort systems have in the past been 
an

[[Page 65444]]

element of many government human space flight systems for the purpose 
of enhancing occupant safety. We will discuss the following questions 
from a regulatory perspective:
    a. Is an abort system a part of fault tolerance?
    b. Does an abort only apply to the launch/ascent phase, or does it 
apply to other flight phases as well?
    c. Should certain types of orbital or suborbital vehicle designs 
require a launch abort system?
    d. What should the reliability requirements be for an abort system?
    e. Is it acceptable to have a different level of care for occupants 
during an abort?
    (3) Fault Tolerance, Margin, and Reliability. To allow for industry 
innovation, the commercial human space flight industry wishes to be 
free to the maximum extent possible to choose between fault tolerance, 
design margin, and reliability. We will explore the extent of this 
desire from a regulatory perspective with the following questions:
    a. What would be an acceptable rationale at a functional level for 
a choice of fault tolerance, design margin, or high reliability to 
protect the safety of spacecraft occupants?
    b. What is the minimum level of fault tolerance? Is it different 
for orbital vs. suborbital?
    c. When is occupant risk high enough to necessitate additional 
fault tolerance?
    d. What determines whether fault tolerance is handled at the 
function level or system level?
    Interested members of the public may submit relevant written 
statements for the COMSTAC working group members to consider under the 
advisory process. Statements may concern the issues and agenda items 
mentioned above or additional issues that may be relevant for the U.S. 
commercial space transportation industry. Interested parties wishing to 
submit written statements should contact Paul Eckert, DFO, (the Contact 
Person listed below) in writing (mail or email) by November 6, 2012, 
for the November 13 teleconference, December 11, 2012, for the December 
18 teleconference, and January 8, 2013, for the January 15 
teleconference. This way the information can be made available to 
COMSTAC members for their review and consideration before each 
teleconference. Written statements should be supplied in the following 
formats: One hard copy with original signature or one electronic copy 
via email. The FAA may schedule up to 6 more teleconferences in the 
coming months to allow the U.S. commercial space transportation 
industry to share views with the FAA on a number of specific topics 
related to commercial human space flight safety.
    An agenda will be posted on the FAA Web site at http://www.faa.gov/go/ast and http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/COMSTAC_working_group/
    Individuals who plan to participate and need special assistance 
should inform the Contact Person listed below in advance of the 
meeting.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Eckert (AST-5), Office of 
Commercial Space Transportation (AST), 800 Independence Avenue SW., 
Room 331, Washington, DC 20591, telephone (202) 267-8655; Email 
[email protected]. Complete information regarding COMSTAC is 
available on the FAA Web site at: http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/advisory_committee/.

    Issued in Washington, DC, October 16, 2012.
George C. Nield,
Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation.
[FR Doc. 2012-26328 Filed 10-25-12; 8:45 am]
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