[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 12, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1470-1472]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-00444]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration


Waiver of Debris Containment Requirements for Launch

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of waiver.

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SUMMARY: This notice concerns two petitions for waiver submitted to the 
FAA by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX): (1) A petition to 
waive the requirement that a waiver request be submitted at least 60 
days before the effective date of the waiver unless good cause for 
later submission is shown in the petition; and (2) a petition to waive 
the requirement that analysis must establish designated impact limit 
lines to bound the area where debris with a ballistic coefficient of 
three or more pounds per square foot is allowed to impact if the flight 
safety system (FSS) functions properly.

DATES: This notice is effective January 12, 2016 and is applicable 
beginning December 18, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical questions concerning 
this waiver, contact Charles P. Brinkman, Licensing Program Lead, 
Commercial Space Transportation--Licensing and Evaluation Division, 800 
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20591; telephone: (202) 267-
7715; email: [email protected]. For legal questions concerning this 
waiver, contact Laura Montgomery, Manager, Space Law Branch, AGC-210, 
Office of the Chief Counsel, Regulations Division, Federal Aviation 
Administration, 800 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20591; 
telephone (202) 267-3150; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On December 3, 2015, SpaceX submitted a petition to the Federal 
Aviation Administration's (FAA's) Office of Commercial Space 
Transportation (AST) requesting relief from a regulatory requirement 
for a launch license for flight of a Falcon 9 launch vehicle carrying 
ORBCOMM-2 satellites. Specifically, SpaceX requested relief from Sec.  
417.213(a), which requires an analysis to establish flight safety 
limits that define when an FSS must terminate a launch vehicle's flight 
to prevent the hazardous effects of the resulting debris impacts from 
reaching any populated or other protected area, and the associated 
requirement of Sec.  417.213(d), which requires an analysis to 
establish designated impact limit lines to bound the area where debris 
with a ballistic coefficient of three or more is allowed to impact if 
the FSS functions properly. On December 17, 2015, the FAA advised 
SpaceX that this relief must be requested as a waiver of Sec.  
417.213(a) and (d), and SpaceX modified its request to be a waiver 
petition in accordance with 14 CFR part 404. Because the scheduled 
launch was planned to occur in less than sixty days, SpaceX also 
requested a waiver to section 404.3(b)(5), which requires that a 
petition for waiver be submitted at least sixty days before the 
proposed effective date of the waiver, which in this case would be the 
date of the planned launch.
    The FAA licenses the launch of a launch vehicle and reentry of a 
reentry vehicle under authority granted to the Secretary of 
Transportation in the Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984, as amended 
and re-codified by 51 U.S.C. Subtitle V, chapter 509 (Chapter 509), and 
delegated to the FAA Administrator and the Associate Administrator for 
Commercial Space Transportation, who exercises licensing authority 
under Chapter 509.
    SpaceX is a private commercial space flight company. The petition 
addresses an upcoming flight that SpaceX plans to undertake to deliver 
ORBCOMM-2 satellites. SpaceX plans for the Falcon 9 launch vehicle to 
launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) and fly back the 
first stage to CCAFS for landing. The flight termination system 
together with autonomous engine shutdown cannot prevent debris from 
reaching protected areas for all failure scenarios during the Falcon 9 
fly back portion of the launch. Specifically, impact limit lines cannot 
be developed to ensure all debris with a ballistic coefficient of 3 
pounds per square foot (psf) or greater remains on CCAFS.

Waiver Criteria

    Chapter 509 allows the FAA to waive a license requirement if the 
waiver (1) will not jeopardize public health and safety, safety of 
property; (2) will not jeopardize national security and foreign policy 
interests of the United States; and (3) will be in the public interest. 
51 U.S.C. 50905(b)(3) (2011); 14 CFR 404.5(b) (2011).

[[Page 1471]]

Section 404.3(b)(5) Waiver Petition

    Section 404.3(b)(5) requires that a petition for waiver be 
submitted at least sixty days before the proposed effective date of the 
waiver, which in this case would be the date of the planned launch, 
initially scheduled for December 19, 2015. This section also provides 
that a petition may be submitted late for good cause. Here, SpaceX 
initially submitted its request on December 17, 2015, shortly after 
being apprised by the FAA that a waiver would be required. Accordingly, 
the FAA is able to find good cause.

Section 417.213(a) and (d) Waiver Petition

    The exact text of 14 CFR 417.213(a) and (d), the regulations at 
issue, states:
    (a) General. A flight safety analysis must identify the location of 
populated or other protected areas, and establish flight safety limits 
that define when a flight safety system must terminate a launch 
vehicle's flight to prevent the hazardous effects of the resulting 
debris impacts from reaching any populated or other protected area and 
ensure that the launch satisfies the public risk criteria of Sec.  
417.107(b).
    (d) Designated debris impact limits. The analysis must establish 
designated impact limit lines to bound the area where debris with a 
ballistic coefficient of three or more is allowed to impact if the 
flight safety system functions properly.

Launch of the Falcon 9 Vehicle

    The FAA waives the requirement of Sec.  417.213(a) that analysis 
must establish flight safety limits that define when a flight safety 
system must terminate a launch vehicle's flight to prevent the 
hazardous effects of the resulting debris impacts from reaching any 
populated or other protected area and the associated requirement of 
Sec.  417.213(d) that the analysis must establish designated impact 
limit lines to bound the area where debris with a ballistic coefficient 
of three or more is allowed to impact if the flight safety system 
functions properly because the Falcon 9 launch will not jeopardize 
public health and safety or safety of property, a national security or 
foreign policy interest of the United States, and is in the public 
interest.

i. Public Health and Safety and Safety of Property

    The Falcon 9 ORBCOMM-2 launch is the first launch of an orbital 
expendable launch vehicle with a planned fly back of one of its stages 
to its launch site. SpaceX has attempted two landings of its Falcon 9 
first stage on a barge on the ocean off CCAFS. The stages reached their 
intended landing spot, but did not survive the landings. In neither 
case was public health or safety or safety of third party property 
jeopardized. The damage to SpaceX's barge was minimal. The USAF 
conducted an assessment of the risk to property on CCAFS and has 
determined that the risks are acceptable.
    The FAA requirements in 14 CFR part 417 have their genesis in USAF 
Range safety requirements. The FAA and USAF committed to a partnership 
during the development of today's launch safety regulations with a goal 
of developing common launch safety requirements and coordinating on 
requests for relief from the common requirements.\1\ The USAF launch 
safety requirements were documented in EWR 127-1, which stated the 
governing principle that ``to provide for the public safety, the 
Ranges, using a Range Safety Program, shall ensure that the launch and 
flight of launch vehicles and payloads present no greater risk to the 
general public than that imposed by the over-flight of conventional 
aircraft.'' \2\ In addition, an American National Standard endorsed the 
same governing principle: ``during the launch and flight phase of 
commercial space vehicle operations, the safety risk for the general 
public should be no more hazardous than that caused by other hazardous 
human activities (e.g., general aviation over flight).'' \3\
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    \1\ ``The Air Force and the FAA remain committed to the 
partnership outlined in the MOA and . . . developing common launch 
safety requirements and for coordinating the common requirements.'' 
Licensing and Safety Requrieemtns for Launch, Supplemental Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking, 67 FR 49456, 49471 (July 30, 2002).
    \2\ Eastern and Western Range 127-1, Range Safety Requirements, 
1998, see page 1-viii.
    \3\ ANSI/AIAA S-061-1998, ``Commercial Launch Safety,'' see 
Section 4.5.
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    Specifically, the 3 psf ballistic coefficient requirement of Sec.  
417.213(d) was intended to (1) capture the current practice of the 
USAF, (2) provide a clear and consistent basis to establish impact 
limit lines to determine if an accident as defined by Sec.  401.5 
occurred, and (3) help prevent a high consequence to the public given 
FSS activation.\4\ Although Sec.  417.107(c) requires a launch 
operator's flight safety analysis to account for any inert debris 
impact with a mean expected kinetic energy at impact greater than or 
equal to 11 ft-lbs., impact kinetic energy was deemed an impractical 
metric for establishing impact limit lines because kinetic energy at 
impact can vary significantly depending on wind conditions, and impact 
limit lines that vary with wind conditions are impractical. Thus, 
ballistic coefficient was deemed a better metric than impact kinetic 
energy to establish the debris that needed to be accounted for in 
establishing flight safety limits. In adopting the 3 psf ballistics 
coefficient standard, the FAA recognized that ballistic coefficient is 
not well correlated with the probability of a casualty producing 
impact.\5\ There are significant probabilities that impacts with debris 
with a ballistic coefficient less than 3 psf might produce a casualty 
and that debris impacts with a ballistic coefficient greater than 3 psf 
might not produce a casualty. The population potentially exposed to an 
impact (e.g., whether in the open or sheltered in buildings, or 
elsewhere), as well as the shape and impact orientation of debris, in 
addition to its energy and other characteristics, all influence whether 
or not an impact is likely to produce a casualty. Hence, the FAA 
required an expected casualty analysis in addition to the establishment 
of impact limit lines. In this regard, the 3 psf threshold for 
establishing impact limit lines was intended to provide an initial 
assessment of the risk of casualty for debris of a specific character, 
but this threshold correlates with public safety only in part.
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    \4\ 14 CFR 417.107(a)(1)(ii).
    \5\ 67 FR 49464.
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    In assessing the potential public safety impacts associated with 
debris outside of the impact limit lines for the SpaceX launch, the FAA 
returned to the original intent of the launch safety requirements: To 
ensure that launch presents no greater risk to the general public than 
that imposed by the over-flight of conventional aircraft. In doing so, 
it applied state-of-the-art techniques to examine the conditional 
Ec (CEC) of a failure that could generate debris outside of 
the impact limit lines. The use of CEC to establish impact limit lines 
was endorsed by the Range Commanders Council in a consensus standard in 
2010.\6\ Conditional Ec is defined as the expected 
casualties given the occurrence of a vehicle failure during flight. The 
FAA analysis of 30 years of empirical evidence provided by the NTSB 
shows that a CEC of 0.01 represents the public safety consequence 
associated with general aviation accidents. Further, analysis conducted 
by the FAA and 45SW/SELR demonstrates that the consequence of

[[Page 1472]]

events that could produce debris outside of the impact limit lines for 
a small portion of the ORBCOMM-2 fly back operations (where the concern 
exists) is within this threshold, even with input data that assume the 
worst case weather conditions. Thus, the FAA has determined that this 
waiver will not jeopardize public health and safety or the safety of 
property.
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    \6\ ``A conditional risk management process should be 
implemented to assure that mission rules and flight termination 
criteria do not induce unacceptable levels of risk when they are 
implemented.'' Range Commanders Council Risk Committee of the Range 
Safety Group, Common Risk Criteria for National Test Ranges, RCC 
321-10, White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, p. 2-7 (2010).
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ii. National Security and Foreign Policy Implications

    The USAF conducted an assessment of the risk to property on CCAFS, 
including assets used for national security space missions, and has 
determined that those risks are acceptable. The FAA has identified no 
national security or foreign policy implications associated with 
granting this waiver.

iii. Public Interest

    The waiver is consistent with the public interest goals of Chapter 
509 and the National Space Transportation Policy. Three of the public 
policy goals of Chapter 509 are: (1) To promote economic growth and 
entrepreneurial activity through use of the space environment; (2) to 
encourage the United States private sector to provide launch and 
reentry vehicles and associated services; and (3) to facilitate the 
strengthening and expansion of the United States space transportation 
infrastructure to support the full range of United States space-related 
activities. See 51 U.S.C. 50901(b)(1), (2), (4). Commercial Space 
Transportation Licensing Regulations, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 62 
FR 13230 (Mar. 19, 1997). A successful demonstration of a stage 
returning to a launch site has the potential for reducing launch costs. 
As it is a major procurer of launch services, reduced launch costs will 
be of direct benefit to the U.S. Government. It will also help to make 
the U.S. launch industry more competitive internationally. The National 
Space Transportation Policy clearly identifies how strengthening U.S. 
competitiveness in the international launch market and improving the 
cost effectiveness of U.S. space transportation services are in the 
public interest: ``Maintaining an assured capability to meet United 
States Government needs, while also taking the necessary steps to 
strengthen U.S. competitiveness in the international commercial launch 
market, is important to ensuring that U.S. space transportation 
capabilities will be reliable, robust, safe, and affordable in the 
future. Among other steps, improving the cost effectiveness of U.S. 
space transportation services could help achieve this goal by allowing 
the United States Government to invest a greater share of its resources 
in other needs such as facilities modernization, technology 
advancement, scientific discovery, and national security. Further, a 
healthier, more competitive U.S. space transportation industry would 
facilitate new markets, encourage new industries, create high 
technology jobs, lead to greater economic growth and security, and 
would further the Nation's leadership role in space.'' SpaceX's 
proposed demonstration is in the public interest.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on December 18, 2015.
Kenneth Wong,
Commercial Space Transportation, Licensing and Evaluation Division 
Manager.
[FR Doc. 2016-00444 Filed 1-11-16; 8:45 am]
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