[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 12, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1470-1472]
[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_ADDRESS>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<PHONE_NUMBER>; email<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
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).

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

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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