All systems go - but tourists can expect accidents

摘要

Potential operators of fleets of space tourism vehicles, unofficially called the Personal Spaceflight Federation, that are setting up the fledgling industry's safety standards, warn that it is almost inevitable that there will be fatalities, as was the case in the early days of civil aviation. Speaking to a US Congressional panel, Michael Kelly, chairman of the RLV working group of COMSTAC and a member of the Voluntary Personal Spaceflight Industry Consenus Standards Organisation which will develop industry standards to implement the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004, said: "There are going to be fatalities. It is a risky business."