From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov

Transcript for: Commercial Space Launch Safety

Description: Audio Interview by GAO staff with Gerald Dillingham,
Director, Physical Infrastructure 

Related GAO Work: GAO-15-706: Federal Aviation Administration:
Commercial Space Launch Industry Developments Present Multiple
Challenges

Released: September 2015


[ Background Music ]

[ Narrator ] Welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report, your source for news and
information from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. It's
September 2015. The space race is going private sector, as companies
like Virgin Galactic and SpaceX seek to take both NASA cargo and
tourists into orbit. The Federal Aviation Administration gives the
go-ahead for commercial launches. But to allow the industry to develop,
it is banned from regulating crew and participant safety. In light of
recent mishaps involving commercial launches there has been some debate
over this moratorium, currently set to expire at the end of September. A
team led by Gerald Dillingham, a director in GAO's physical
infrastructure team recently examined changes in the commercial launch
industry and FAA's oversight of it. GAO's Jacques Arsenault sat down
with Gerald to talk about what they found.

[ Jacques Arsenault: ] Can you talk about the role that private
companies are playing in the space launch industry right now?

[ Gerald Dillingham: ] I think the context is that over the last decade
there has been a decided shift from the Federal Government being the
primary mover in space to moving to the private sector where we see
private entrepreneurs doing things like cargo flights to the
international space station. We see them preparing to deliver cargo and
astronauts to the space station. We see them sort of gearing up for what
is called "space tourism" where you and other everyday Americans can go
up to near orbit. We see them launching small satellites as well so it
is quickly becoming a major area of innovation and entrepreneurship for
the private sector.

[ Jacques Arsenault: ] So what is the FAA's role in overseeing this
activity?

[ Gerald Dillingham: ] Well, at this point, FAA's primary role is
overseeing the safety, what is called the uninvolved public. Meaning all
of us who are on the ground or in the track of the rocket and so forth.
They don't at this point, because of moratorium imposed by Congress.
They do not oversee astronauts and passengers going to the space station
and places like that.

[Jacques Arsenault: ] I would like to talk a little bit more about that
moratorium. Over the last year there have been a number of high profile
mishaps on commercial space launches. Can you tell us a little more
about the conservation around FAA's role, particularly an expanded role
in overseeing safety?

[ Gerald Dillingham: ] Yes, this has a history from aviation, where at
one point, the Federal Aviation Administration was also in charge of
both regulating and promoting aviation and that mandate was broken up
and made FAA the regulator and not the promoter. You have a similar
circumstance with commercial space as it stands right now is that this
is seen as a new industry, an industry that needs some room to grow. And
so there is a moratorium until the end of September of this year, 2015,
where FAA is prohibited from regulating the safety of astronauts and
other space pioneers.

[ Jacques Arsenault: ] And so that moratorium ends at the end of
September unless it gets extended, and it has been extended before,
right?

[ Gerald Dillingham: ] That is correct. It has been extended before.

[ Jacques Arsenault: ] So if it is not extended, if it ends, does the
FAA have the capacity to regulate safety?

[ Gerald Dillingham: ] Two parts to that answer. There were some initial
legislative bills that were introduced on the Hill, and they both had
some kind of extension for the moratorium. But, let's just say that the
moratorium is not extended. I think developing regulations for space,
like developing regulations for almost anything, is going to be a long
and difficult and take several years to accomplish. But in the meantime,
FAA is working with industries to start developing some professional
standards and doing its, sort of in the background, being prepared
should the moratorium be lifted.

[ Jacques Arsenault: ] So then finally what would you say is the bottom
line of this report?

[ Gerald Dillingham: ] I think our bottom line on this report is that
the private sector commercial space industry is at the beginning of a
very exciting time. There are going to be many more launches and many
more activities. And for FAA to be prepared for that, they need to make
sure that they are in sync with Congress, in terms of the resources that
they will need to insure that we have a safe and growing industry for
commercial space.

[ Background Music ]

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