Within the space industry it is well understood that each space flight involves a high degree of safetyrisk. The catastrophic loss rates for orbital space flights are also well known from historical data andthis can assist in deriving safety targets (or acceptable levels of safety) for future space operations i.e.as part of the Commercial Crew Transportation System Requirements. However for the nascentsuborbital space flight domain there is no specific historical data and at present authorities in theUnited States are not dictating specific safety targets or safety objectives in order to let the industrygrow; hence the approach is to evolve the regulatory standards as the industry matures. It is arguedthat when suborbital space flight operations commence, the safety risks will be declared as required tothe authorities, the flight crew and spaceflight participants, but this still does not answer whether thevehicle is acceptably safe; indeed it will beg the question ‘how safe is safe enough?' As well asdetailing the methodologies for deriving safety targets and safety objectives the paper discussesperception of risk; both from the industry perspective and a societal perspective. This paper addressesthe problematic issue and presents discussions concerning explicit and implicit safety targets andsafety objectives in order to derive a rationalised approach for the emerging commercial space flightindustry. The paper notes the differences between launch licensing and certification approaches andconcludes that having an acceptable level of safety is essential, irrespective of regulatory approach.The author of this paper contend that it is more appropriate for the authorities to have rationalised andexplicit safety requirements and safety targets or safety objectives (depending on selected approach),together with effective guidelines, such that prospective design organisations and operators can strivefor a recognised and acceptable level of safety in the commercial space flight industry.
展开▼
