The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the U.S. Air Force said they are moving in concert to propose common federal standards that will make expendable commercial rocket launchers safer, more efficient and less costly. According to the two groups, the new proposed rules will strengthen public safety by identifying up-front potential problems and formalize procedures to minimize the launch hazards inherent in commercial rocket launches at federal and non-federal launch sites.

“These rules make it easier – and safer – to launch commercial rockets,” said FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey in a prepared statement. “We can aide growth of this industry with a unified set of strong safety standards and transparent rules that ease the launch application process.” The proposed rules will be discussed at an FAA/USAF joint public meeting on March 29-31 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., in the Discovery 1 Conference Room of the Holiday Inn-Capitol, 550 C Street, SW in Washington, D.C. The Air Force will attend to share their expertise. The public meeting will provide stakeholders with information about the draft regulatory language and allow them to comment on the record. The FAA draft regulatory language is available for public review in the Department of Transportation (DOT) Docket for the rulemaking at http://dms.dot.gov, Docket Number FAA-2000-7953. Using the Simple Search, type 7953 for the full docket for this rulemaking. Also available on the FAA/AST Web site (http://ast.faa.gov/UM/index.htm) is a matrix that demonstrates the commonalities of Air Force requirements and FAA regulations.