FAA AST Office of Commercial Space Transportation Federal Aviation Administration Update on Commercial Human Spaceflight Telecons COMSTAC Systems Working Group Oct 9th, 2012 Pam Melroy Deputy Associate Administrator (acting)

Federal Aviation Administration 1 COMSTAC Briefing Outline  Background  Approach to Occupant Safety Regulations  Human Space Flight Regs Telecons  Takeaways

Federal Aviation Administration 2 Background  Currently the FAA’s regulatory focus is protecting the safety of the public, not the persons on board. The moratorium on proposing regulations that address occupant safety has been extended to October  AST wants to use this time to begin a dialogue with industry and understand the consequences of implementation – briefing in May led to development of telecons to discuss specific topics

Federal Aviation Administration 3 Background  The process is only just beginning and nothing is cast in stone  The process will take significant time, so the discussion must start now if we want a quality product  AST wants to engage industry early through COMSTAC, and continuously every step of the way – as much as permitted by law

Federal Aviation Administration 4 Approach to Occupant Safety regulations What AST IS NOT working on – has not changed since May: 1.How and where the new regulations will be integrated  Not discussing potential changes to Part 460  Not discussing how to integrate new material into existing public safety regulations  Will be addressed further along when potential regs are developed 2.Certification similar to the aviation model (one topic of telecon #2) 3.Designated Engineering Representatives (DERs) – no authority 4.Specific Loss of Crew probability thresholds 5.Security (criminal intent)

Federal Aviation Administration 5 Human Space Flight Regs Telecons  First telecon held August 14 th - topic was “What Level of Safety Should FAA Target?  We asked some questions like: Should there be more than one threshold of safety based on purpose of flight, or for the crew vs space flight participant? Should there be a quantitative threshold of safety? What level of care (from preventing a hangnail to severe injury) should we target?  Charts posted in advance and ed to everyone who identified interest in attending  Outstanding participation – >80 people  Minutes published on the website

Federal Aviation Administration 6 General Feedback from First Telecon Challenges…  Several people told us they preferred to keep their inputs confidential and do not want to speak on the telecon.  Some participants are eager to participate but not familiar with specific issues and focus of the particular telecon topic.  The roll call was lengthy due to number of participants (attendance reporting mandatory under FACA rules).

Federal Aviation Administration 7 General Feedback from First Telecon Strengths…  Many people found the discussion very interesting and appreciated the opportunity to speak and listen  We see the community being educated and think that the quality of the conversation will continue to elevate (observed in telecon #2)  People pay attention to COMSTAC!! We were amazed with the turnout, many thanks to the Systems Working Group  We received some real “nuggets” that we are thinking about

Federal Aviation Administration 8 Human Space Flight Regs Telecon #1  Notable comments included: Support for a different level of care for crew vs. space flight participants (crew must function, SFPs just stay alive) No support voiced for quantitative levels of safety due to lack of enough reliability data – consistent with our thoughts Lots of interest in training and informed consent – will consider for future topics Several believed the FAA should address fatalities and leave lesser injuries to the insurance industry to monitor/address

Federal Aviation Administration 9 How the telecon benefited AST?  The concept of a single level of safety was an oversimplification. There is a basic level of care for all, and a different, conditional standard for the crew when a safety critical task must be performed – the level of care that allows the task to be performed. We are working with CAMI to determine the basic level of care.  Other inputs are still “percolating” in the team, or are just good food for thought – such as the input about the role of insurance companies.

Federal Aviation Administration 10 For the second telecon… 1.We streamlined the attendance process. 2.We encouraged the industry designers and operators to participate and share their safety philosophy. 3.We were much more clear that one of the purposes of the telecons is to air all of the issues (even if they are obvious to “insiders”).

Federal Aviation Administration 11 Human Space Flight Regs Telecons  Second telecon held September 18 th - topic was “What Should FAA Oversight Look Like?” We asked these questions: How can FAA/AST best ascertain in 180 days whether avoidable risks to occupants have been adequately addressed and mitigated? If FAA/AST cannot issue certificates - does it matter? What else would you call it if not certification? How long after occupant safety regulations have been issued should informed consent stay in place?  Excellent participation again  Minutes published on the website

Federal Aviation Administration 12 Human Space Flight Regs Telecon #2  Notable comments included: Extensive discussion of industry maturity relative to certification – caution about the expectations that come with the word “certification”. Many people felt the existing process of licensing operations including informed consent is adequate and should continue when occupant safety regulations exist. Differing opinions on whether hardware should have a separate approval from operations (like aviation). Relationship of informed consent to liability – they must be considered together if changes are made. Informed consent should remain in place until safety is no longer a competitive factor for the industry. Significance of definitions in a regulatory environment.

Federal Aviation Administration 13 How the telecon benefited AST?  Although most comments were points discussed in great detail previously by the AST team, the correct issues were aired and participant comments are providing additional insight for the team to consider.  We think difficult definitions need to be brought to the forefront as they are absolutely central in any rulemaking (define boundaries) Abort in particular Definitions are a future telecon topic

Federal Aviation Administration 14 Takeaways 1.Industry designers and operators should be willing to talk about their safety philosophy – there is a huge benefit in the shared community hearing educated/thoughtful comments. 2.We are seeing the advantage of discussing issues from both a tactical near-term perspective (industry) and a strategic long-term perspective (government). 3.We hope that even if people don’t dial in, they read the charts and submit comments. We can keep comments confidential if desired. 4.We believe the telecons are valuable and intend to have at least 10 total. 5.We look forward to you participating in the next conference call on October 23 th at 1 pm Eastern time – “What types of requirements and associated guidance material should FAA develop?”

Federal Aviation Administration 15 Questions?