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Can Branson Charge For Flights In An Experimental Aircraft?
On Jan 28, 12:04 pm, Larry Dighera wrote:
Is Branson going to certify White Knight Two and SpaceShipTwo? I believe the FAA has issued rules allowing private suborbital spacecraft to carry paying passengers using a launch license rules rather than aircraft certification. Essentially, launch licenses only require the operator to certify that the uninvolved public will not be unduly put in danger by the flight- they do *not* require the operator to prove that the passengers will not be endangered. I believe there's a requirement that the pax sign releases saying that they understand the terms under which the flight is being conducted, but I could be wrong. There was actually a fairly big argument in the nascent suborbital passenger community a few years ago as to whether suborbital operations should be covered under certification or launch licenses. Burt Rutan (designer of the WK/SS1 system) actually wanted to implement something akin to certification, arguing that the new industry had to be safe for passengers or it would never get off the ground. Most other would-be suborbital operators disagreed, arguing that there was not enough data currently available on suborbital ops to even define what certification standards should be in that regime, let alone determine whether or not their vehicles met those standards, and that if they were required to certify their vehicles it would effectively strange the industry in its cradle by delaying revenue- producing flights for too long. The launch license guys have won out for the moment, although I believe there's a Congressman who keeps trying to legislatively change the rules. -JTD |
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