[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 203 (Friday, October 20, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62037-62038]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-8792]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration


Commercial Space Transportation; Waiver of License Requirement 
for Blue Origin's Pre-flight Preparatory Activities Conducted at a U.S. 
Launch Site

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of waiver.

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SUMMARY: The FAA waived a requirement for Blue Origin, LLC (Blue 
Origin), to obtain a launch license for certain launch processing 
activities at West Texas Launch Site. Blue Origin is authorized to 
conduct suborbital rocket launches under Experimental Permit No. EP 06-
001, which was issued by the FAA on September 15, 2006. The FAA finds 
that waiving the requirement to obtain a launch license for certain 
launch processing activities conducted in preparation for flight is in 
the public interest and will not jeopardize public health and safety, 
safety of property, or national security and foreign policy interests 
of the United States.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Sherman Council, Systems 
Engineering and Training Division, Office of Commercial Space 
Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 800 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591, 
(202) 267-8308.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Commercial 
Space Transportation (AST) implements its licensing and permitting 
authority under 49 U.S.C. Subtitle IX, ch. 701-- Commercial Space 
Launch Activities (chapter 701), which states that a license or permit 
is required ``to launch a launch vehicle.'' 49 U.S.C. 70104(a). On 
September 15, 2006, the FAA issued an experimental permit to Blue 
Origin. The experimental permit authorizes Blue Origin to conduct an 
unlimited number of launches of a Propulsion Module 1 (PM1) vehicle 
from West Texas Launch Site for one year from the effective date of the 
permit. PM1 will be a low-altitude demonstrator vehicle, using 2,042 
kilograms (4,500 pounds) of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as a 
monopropellant, and is capable of reaching an altitude of no more than 
610 meters (2,000 feet) with a mission time of less than one minute. 
Each PM1 vehicle will take off and land vertically using rocket 
propulsion. The PM1 vehicle is designed to carry no crew, no space 
flights participants, and no payload.
    West Texas Launch Site, which contains the entire PM1 operating 
area, consists of an 18,600 acre plot of land, and will be enclosed by 
a fence. The launch site is privately owned and will be exclusively 
used by Blue Origin. The proposed operating area is uninhabited and 
controlled by Blue Origin. Blue Origin will limit access to the launch 
site to launch personnel and invited guests.
    Blue Origin plans to ship PM1 to the launch site over ground. The 
panels and nose cap of its aeroshell will be shipped separately. PM1 
will arrive at the launch site in a completely inert state, with no 
helium pressurant or H202 propellant onboard. Once on the launch site, 
PM1 will be removed from its shipping fixture and the aeroshell will be 
installed on the PM1 in a vehicle processing facility (VPF). The PM1 
will be assembled and undergo check-out and pre-flight procedures 
inside the VPF.
    Launch processing inside the VPF will include functional checks of 
the

[[Page 62038]]

PM1 vehicle. These functional checks include verifying proper operation 
of PM1's actuators, and that all valves, regulators, and avionics 
function normally. During these tests, the PM1 will contain no H2O2. 
Blue Origin will pressurize the PM1 helium tanks in the VPF before 
moving the PM1 to a test landing pad. A separate test, called the 
``flight readiness test'', will be performed after helium 
pressurization gas has been loaded on the vehicle, just before the 
vehicle is transported to the test landing pad. At the test landing 
pad, Blue Origin will load the PM1 with H2O2 and prepare it for flight. 
After landing, the PM1 and any support equipment will be returned to a 
safe condition. In accordance with this waiver, under Blue Origin's 
experimental permit, launch begins with pressurization of gaseous 
helium bottles of the PM1 in the VPF and includes all preparation until 
flight of the vehicle.
    By statute, for a suborbital rocket, ``launch'' means to place or 
try to place a launch vehicle in a suborbital trajectory, and includes 
activities involved in the preparation of a launch vehicle or payload 
for launch, when those activities take place at a launch site in the 
United States. 49 U.S.C. 70102(3). Chapter 701 requires FAA 
authorization of Blue Origins' launch processing activities, by license 
or permit, unless waived by the FAA. 49 U.S.C. 70104, 70105. By 
regulation, launch begins with the arrival of a launch vehicle at a 
U.S. launch site. 14 CFR 401.5.\1\
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    \1\ Under current FAA policy, the FAA does not require Blue 
Origin to obtain a part 420 license for the operation of West Texas 
Launch Site. Nonetheless, although not licensed, West Texas Launch 
Site is still a launch site. To the extent that the FAA has 
previously suggested that a license was required for a launch site 
to be a launch site, see Waiver of License Requirement for Scaled 
Composites' Pre-flight Preparatory Activities Conducted at a U.S. 
Launch Site, 69 FR 48549, 48550 (Aug. 10, 2004), that reasoning was 
incorrect.
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Waiver Criteria

    Chapter 701 allows the FAA to waive the requirement to obtain a 
license for an individual license or experimental permit applicant if 
the waiver is in the public interest and will not jeopardize public 
health and safety, safety of property, national security and foreign 
policy interests of the United States. 49 U.S.C. 70105(b)(3). \2\ To 
assess the impact on public health and safety and safety of property, 
the FAA utilizes a four-prong test. The FAA also addresses any aspects 
of granting a waiver that may have national security or foreign policy 
implications.
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    \2\ Chapter 701 does not provide the FAA authority to waive a 
permit. See id; see also 70105a(i).
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Four-Prong Test

    The four-prong test used by the FAA was originally raised by the 
House Science Committee in 1995, as guidance to the FAA to assist it in 
defining ``launch'' under chapter 701. H.R. Rep. No. 233, 104th Cong., 
1st Sess., at 60 (1995). The guidance suggested that pre-flight 
activities that should be regulated as part of a ``launch'', are those 
that:
    1. Are closely proximate in time to ignition or lift-off,
    2. Entail critical steps preparatory to initiating flight,
    3. Are unique to space launch, and
    4. Are inherently so hazardous as to warrant AST's regulatory 
oversight under 49 U.S.C. chapter 701.
    As the FAA noted in the Scaled Waiver and in a Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking, Experimental Permits for Reusable Suborbital Rockets, 71 FR 
16251 (Mar. 31, 2006), the four-prong test provides a rational approach 
to determining whether to waive the license requirement for launch 
processing. The many hazards involved in the processing of expendable 
launch vehicles led the FAA to define launch to begin with the arrival 
of a vehicle at the launch site. Commercial Space Transportation 
Licensing Regulations, 64 FR 19586, 19592 (Apr. 21, 1999); Scaled 
Waiver, 69 FR at 48550. With new technologies involving different 
hazards, however, the FAA is willing to entertain requests for waivers. 
There should be no concerns if the license requirement is waived 
because the nature and existence of hazards are addressed as part of 
the waiver process.

The Four-Prong Test Applied to PM1 Launch Processing

    Prior to pressurization of the helium tanks, no launch processing 
activities meet all four prongs of the test. In particular, no 
inherently hazardous activities take place until pressurization. 
Therefore, the FAA finds no activities prior to pressurizing the 
vehicle helium tanks require oversight by the FAA. Storage of the 
helium is not hazardous because it is inert and will not react with any 
other elements or compounds under ordinary conditions. The unfueled PM1 
presents no risk of fire, explosion, debris, or unintended motor 
flight.

National Security and Foreign Policy Implications of PM1 Launch 
Processing

    The FAA evaluation conducted in support of Blue Origins' 
experimental permit concluded that there are no issues relating to U.S. 
national security or foreign policy interests that would require the 
FAA to prevent launches of PM1. Thus, there are no national security or 
foreign policy issues associated with the launch processing of PM1.

Summary and Conclusion

    A waiver is in the public interest because it accomplishes the 
goals of Chapter 701 and avoids unnecessary regulation. The waiver will 
not jeopardize public health and safety or safety of property because 
launch processing activities for PM1 up to helium pressurization 
conducted at West Texas Launch Site are benign to the public. A waiver 
will not jeopardize national security and foreign policy interests of 
the United States.
    For the foregoing reasons, the FAA has waived the requirement for 
Blue Origin to obtain a license for Blue Origin's launch processing 
until helium pressurization conducted at West Texas Launch Site.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on October 13, 2006.
Stewart W. Jackson,
Manager, Systems Engineering and Training, Office of the Associate 
Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation.
[FR Doc. 06-8792 Filed 10-19-06; 8:45 am]
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