Source: NASA/Jessica Culler Abegael “Abby” Jakey has aviation in her blood, taking her first flight at six months old in a Globe Swift. She hasn’t veered too far away from the industry since. A pilot since she was 17, daughter and sister to commercial airline mechanics, recreational pilots, former Navy enlisted men, and a wife to a commercial airline pilot, [...]
Post Tagged with: “FAA”
Black Sky Training Obtains FAA Approval
Commercial spaceflight took another step forward on March 28 when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) awarded commercial suborbital flight training company Black Sky Training the first ever safety approval for space training. “By establishing a standard protocol for training of the flying public and flight crews, they [the FAA/AST] have signaled the burgeoning space flight industry that nothing but the highest safety [...]
Armadillo Aerospace Releases STIG Update
“It’s been some time since we did an update on our progress,” begins Armadillo Aerospace’s Neil Milburn at the beginning of the four part Stig-B Program Update the company published over the course of February. One year since their last update, Armadillo covers a lot of ground, recounting in detail their three Stig-B test launches, the development that went into [...]
Everything You Wanted to Know about Space Tourism but Were Afraid to Ask
For at least the past ten years, space tourism has been the next big thing coming. With all the private human space flight companies announcing, postponing, and re-announcing the dates of the foreseen commencements of their operations, the public might have grown a little bit tired of waiting. One American news website even wrote earlier this month that with XCor [...]
Dreamliner Battery Woes Have ISS Implications
On January 16, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded all Boeing 787 Dreamliner airplanes pending investigation into the safety of its batteries. Poland followed suit, quickly joined by the rest of Europe by decree of the European Aviation Safety Administration. Japan’s fleet had already been voluntarily suspended. India and Ethiopia joined the ban within hours. “Before further flight, operators [...]
Remembering Columbia
February 1st 2013 will be the 10th anniversary of one of the most significant events in the history of human spaceflight: the Columbia accident. This anniversary is a poignant reminder of the costs of neglecting space safety. The loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia and its entire STS-107 crew is one of the most catastrophic events in the modern space [...]
Health Clearance for Space Tourists
Space tourism is not far from becoming reality and this means that at some point in the near future doctors may expect patients to ask questions and request clearance processes for space travel. “Although perhaps unfamiliar with the specific physiological changes associated with commercial air travel,” says Dr. Millie Hughes-Fulford, STS-40 astronaut and University of California professor of medicine, “most [...]
Federal Aviation Administration Grants Help Burgeoning Spaceports
On September 25, the US Federal Aviation Administration announced the awarding of new Space Transportation Infrastructure grants. The grants, totalling $500,000, are expected to help commercial space projects in California, Colorado, and Hawaii. “These investments will help us continue to develop a safe and robust commercial space industry in the United States,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Government and private [...]
Stig-B Licensed for Launch
On July 26, Armadillo Aerospace’s Stig-B rocket became the thrid reusable launch vehicle to be licensed by the US Federal Aviation Administration. Under the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, each country’s government is responsible for any space activities originiating from its terrorities. Such being the case, governments tend to be cautious with respect to the space activities they permit. The Stig-B seems [...]
Federal Aviation Administration to Hold Talks With Commercial Space
The US Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) is charged with registering and regulating commercial spaceflight. When it comes to commercial crew ventures, such as the plethora of suborbital tourism companies that have sprung up across the US, AST has been charged with a hands-off role. Taking a watch and learn approach, AST is merely responsible for [...]
